"Impact of e-cigarette flavor compounds and additives on lipid membrane diffusion"

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) are often promoted as safer alternatives to traditional, combustible cigarettes. However, there is evidence suggesting that e-cigarettes cause significant harm. In addition to nicotine, flavorings and other additives are a largely unrecognized potential hazard. It is vital that fundamental research be performed to understand the mechanisms that underlie the pulmonary effects of ENDS additives. This study focuses on understanding how inhaled chemicals in ENDS devices can harm the respiratory system and aims to identify the potentially most harmful compounds. For that purpose, we investigate the impact of additives on membrane fluidity by measuring lateral diffusion in surfactant membranes using Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP). We prepared supported lipid bilayers with compositions designed to mimic the lung surfactant composition and measured their diffusion coefficients. Quantitative FRAP experiments were conducted using the confocal microscope at the Imaging and Microscopy Facility (IMF), University of California, Merced.