A theoretical formalism for aggregation of peroxidized lipids and plasma membrane stability during photolysis

The objective of this investigation was to examine, from a theoretical perspective, the mechanism underlying the lysis of plasma membranes by photoinduced, chemically mediated damage such as is found in photolysis. Toward this end, a model is presented which relates the membrane lifetime to the thermodynamic parameters of the membrane components based upon the kinetic theory of aggregate formation. The formalism includes a standard birth/death process for the formation of damaged membrane components (i.e., peroxidized lipids) as well as a terminating condensation process for the formation of aggregates of peroxidized plasma membrane lipids. Our theory predicts that 1) the membrane lifetime is inversely correlated with predicted rate of membrane damage; 2) an upper limit on the duration of membrane damage exists, above which the mean and variance of the membrane lifetime is independent of further membrane damage; and 3) both the mean and variance of the time of membrane lifetime distribution are correlated with the number of sites that may be damaged to form a single membrane defect. The model provides a framework to optimize the lysis of cell membranes by photodynamic therapy.