Hydrophobic mismatch between the hydrophobic length of membrane proteins and hydrophobic thickness of membranes is a crucial factor in controlling protein function and assembly.We combined fluorescence with circular dichroism(CD) and attenuated total reflection infrared(ATR-IR) spectroscopic methods to investigate the behaviors of the peptide and lipids under hydrophobic mismatch using a model peptide from the fourth transmembrane domain of natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1(Nramp1),the phosphatidylcholines(PCs) and phosphatidylglycerols(PGs) with different lengths of acyl chains(14:0,16:0 and 18:0).In all PG lipid membranes,the peptide forms stable α-helix structure,and the helix axis is parallel to lipid chains.The helical span and orientation hardly change in varying thickness of PG membranes,while the lipid chains can deform to accommodate to the hydrophobic surface of embedded peptide.By comparison,the helical structures of the model peptide in PC lipid membranes are less stable.Upon incorporation with PC lipid membranes,the peptide can deform itself to accommodate to the hydrophobic thickness of lipid membranes in response to hydrophobic mismatch.In addition,hydrophobic mismatch can increase the aggregation propensity of the peptide in both PC and PG lipid membranes and the peptide in PC membranes has more aggregation tendency than that in PG membranes.
