The formation of helical tubular vesicles by binary monolayers containing a nickel-chelating lipid and phosphoinositides in the presence of basic polypeptides.

Binary lipid monolayers consisting of equimolar proportions of a phosphoinositide and a nickel-chelating lipid formed helical tubular vesicular structures, which appeared to be induced and/or stabilized by myelin basic protein (MBP). Another basic polypeptide, poly-L-lysine, had a similar effect but not to as great a degree as MBP; the proteins thus appeared to act as polycations. Although, the nickel-chelating lipid is a synthetic product, other endogenous divalent cations such as Zn(2+), as well as phosphoinositides, are integral and dynamic components of the myelin sheath in vivo. There, comparable helical tubular structures might represent a means for sequestration of these lipids into domains of high local concentration, perhaps in regions where the membrane is greatly curved.