MODULATION OF MEMBRANE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES BY PULEGONA AND MENTHONE

MARIELA SANCHEZ-BORZONE; MARIANI, M E; VIRGINIA MIGUEL; DANIEL A. GARCIA

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2017

SAB, SAIC, SAIB, SAI, SAA, SAB, SAFE, SAH, SAP, SAFIS

The essential oils are natural products extracted from species of aromatic plants and exhibit a variety of biological properties, whose effects are attributed mainly to terpenes, usually the major chemical component. Moreover, some terpenes have proven to possess antimicrobial or insecticidal activity, directly connected with the incorporation of these chemicals into cell membrane. The insecticidal activity of Mentha oil and its main components has been tested and established against various insects/pests. In the present work, we analyzed the capacity of the monoterpene ketones most commonly found in Mentha species, pulegone and menthone, to interact with membranes. The interaction of both ketones with DPPC membranes was analyzed by using Langmuir monolayers and Brewster angle microscopy (BAM). The presence of these compounds in the subphase modified the interfacial characteristics of DPPC isotherms indicating their capacity to penetrate in the lipidic phase. The changes were reflected mainly as expansion of the isotherms in the LE or LC phases of the film, softening and appearance of phase transition at larger areas and reducing the collapse surface pressure. The experimental data indicate that compounds can incorporate into the membrane and their presence between lipid molecules would induce an increasing intermolecular interaction, decreasing the film elasticity. These results suggests that the insecticidal activity of Mentha could involve the interaction of its major components with lipid molecules causing disturbance of the cell membrane as was postulated for several larvicide compounds.Keywords: insecticidal,membrane, pulegone, menthone,BAM.