Adsorption of gastric lipase onto multicomponent model lipid monolayers with phase separation

•Ellipsometry evidenced high amount of gastric lipase close to interface.•Gastric lipase adsorption impacts on lipid phase separation.•Gastric lipase partitions towards LE phase in monolayer with phase coexistence.•Gastric lipase adsorbs at variable levels of insertion suggesting variable interaction.•Lipase adsorption is mediated by hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions.

The enzymatic lipolysis of complex natural lipoproteic assemblies such as milk fat globules is central in neonatal digestion. This process first requires the rapid adsorption of a lipolytic enzyme, gastric lipase, onto the membrane enveloping the triglyceride substrate before the onset of catalytic activity. The interactions governing lipase adsorption onto this complex lipid/water interface are not fully elucidated. This study was designed to unravel the interactions of recombinant dog gastric lipase (rDGL) with model monolayers presenting liquid–liquid phase coexistence and mimicking the outer leaflet of the milk fat globule membrane. Combining biophysical tools (ellipsometry, tensiometry and atomic force microscopy), it was evidenced that rDGL partitions toward liquid expanded phase and at phase boundaries. rDGL gets adsorbed at several levels of insertion suggesting molecular cooperation that may favor insertion and strongly impacts on the lipid phase lateral organization. The addition of phosphatidylserine, negatively charged, reinforced adsorption; hence besides hydrophobic interactions and as further investigated through surface potential modeling, rDGL adsorption is favored by electrostatic interactions.

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