Dynamic instability in nanoscale lipid domains revealed by contact mode high speed AFM: effect of amyloid-β and cholesterol content

Cellular membranes are an essential feature of life, the composition and structure of which is important in governing cellular processes and is linked to multiple disorders. Of particular interest is the role that the lipid membrane plays in amyloidogenic diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), including the role of lipid composition and cholesterol in mediating amyloid toxicity. To mimic neuronal membranes, we used 3-component (DPPC/DOPC/Chol) and 5-component (DPPC/POPC/Chol/sphingomyelin/GM1) model membranes. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a key tool in studying the structures of lipid membranes and their interactions with amyloid. Recent advances in contact mode high-speed AFM (HS-AFM) have made it possible to capture dynamic processes at video rate. We used a unique custom-built contact mode HS-AFM to image model lipid membranes and study amyloid-β interactions in liquid. We demonstrate the advantage of using HS-AFM coupled with spatiotemporal variability analysis to capture the dynamic interaction of Aβ 1–42 monomers and oligomers with phase separated lipid bilayers to elucidate the role of nanoscale domains in amyloid–membrane interactions. We show that amyloid oligomer complexes induce greater dynamic instability than monomers, and that low cholesterol membranes are more susceptible to destabilization. Overall, we demonstrate the advantage of HS-AFM to image biological processes on biologically relevant soft samples and discuss tip–sample interactions at high-speed operation in contact mode on lipid membrane models in a liquid environment.