Lateral proton transport induced by acoustic solitons propagating in lipid membranes

Objectives. The study of proton transport in membrane structures represents a significant technological task in the development of hydrogen energy as well as a fundamental problem in bioenergetics. Investigation in this field aims at finding out the physical mechanisms of fast proton transport in the meso-porous structures in polymer electrolyte membranes, which serve as electrochemical components of hydrogen fuel cells. The objectives of the research in the field of bioenergetics are to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of effective proton transport in transmembrane channel proteins, as well as along the surface proton-conducting structures in biological membranes. To investigate the molecular mechanisms of the direct proton transport along the water-membrane interface, we developed a model of proton movement along quasi-one-dimensional lateral domain structures in multicomponent lipid membranes.

Methods. The developed approach is based on a model of collective excitations spreading along the membranes in the form of acoustic solitons, which represent the regions of local compression of polar groups and structural defects in hydrocarbon chains of lipid molecules.

Results. The results of modeling showed that the interaction between an excess proton on the membrane surface and a soliton of membrane compression leads to the proton being trapped by an acoustic soliton, followed by its transport by moving soliton. The developed model was applied to describe effective proton transport along the inner mitochondrial membrane and its role in the local coupling function of molecular complexes in cell bioenergetics.

Conclusions. The developed soliton model of proton transport demonstrated that collective excitations within lipid membranes can determine one of the factors affecting the efficiency of proton transport along interphase boundaries. Further development of the theoretical approaches, taking into account dynamic properties of polymer and biological proton-conducting membranes, can contribute to the study of a role of surface proton transport in cell bioenergetics, as well as to the investigation of transport characteristics of the proton-exchange polymer membranes developed for the hydrogen energy industry.

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