The Gram-negative bacterial outer membrane
(GNB-OM) is asymmetric in its lipid composition with a
phospholipid-rich inner leaflet and an outer leaflet predominantly
composed of lipopolysaccharides (LPS). LPS are
polyanionic molecules, with numerous phosphate groups
present in the lipid A and core oligosaccharide regions. The
repulsive forces due to accumulation of the negative charges
are screened and bridged by the divalent cations (Mg2+ and
Ca2+) that are known to be crucial for the integrity of the
bacterial OM. Indeed, chelation of divalent cations is a wellestablished
method to permeabilize Gram-negative bacteria
such as Escherichia coli. Here, we use X-ray and neutron
reflectivity (XRR and NR, respectively) techniques to examine
the role of calcium ions in the stability of a model GNB-OM.
Using XRR we show that Ca2+ binds to the core region of the
rough mutant LPS (RaLPS) films, producing more ordered
structures in comparison to divalent cation free monolayers.
Using recently developed solid-supported models of the GNB-OM, we study the effect of calcium removal on the asymmetry of
DPPC:RaLPS bilayers. We show that without the charge screening effect of divalent cations, the LPS is forced to overcome the
thermodynamically unfavorable energy barrier and flip across the hydrophobic bilayer to minimize the repulsive electrostatic
forces, resulting in about 20% mixing of LPS and DPPC between the inner and outer bilayer leaflets. These results reveal for the
first time the molecular details behind the well-known mechanism of outer membrane stabilization by divalent cations. This
confirms the relevance of the asymmetric models for future studies of outer membrane stability and antibiotic penetration.