Determinação do gradiente de pH na região interna a duas membranas em equilíbrio com eletrólito

• Ano de defesa: 2013
• Autor(a) principal: Ratero, Davi Rubinho [UNESP]
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
• Palavras-chave em Português: Biologia molecular; Biofísica; Membranas (Biologia); Equilibrio ionico; Ionização; Eletrostatica; Teoria de campo médio; Molecular biology
• Link de acesso: http://hdl.handle.net/11449/108903

This work develops a theoretical model to investigate the pH gradient in a region bounded by two phospholipid bilayers that ionize in equilibrium with an electrolytic solution. The objective was to apply this theoretical model to the mitochondrial intermembrane space by investigating a possible relationship between the ionization of the phospholipids of the membrane and the pH control. The theoretical model was based on a mean field approximation. The Poisson – Boltzmann equation was solved for a system composed by two infinite planes separated by a distance L. The surface charge density in each plane is a function of the ionization of their ionizing groups and therefore dependent on the chemical equilibrium with the surrounding solution. Two systems were considered, the first takes into account only the counterions from the ionization. The second takes into account also the presence of an electrolyte besides the counterions. For these two systems the mean electrostatic potential and the pH were analyzed as a function of the distance from the charged planes for different values of both the added salt concentration and the cross section of the ionizable groups. The results obtained evidence that the ionization contributes to maintain the pH value stable near the membranes. These results suggest that the pH gradient in the mitochondrial intermembrane space is likely to be associated to the ionization of the phospholipid molecules