The permeation of small molecules across biological membranes is a crucial process that lies at the heart of life. Permeation is involved not only in the maintenance of homeostasis at the cell level but also in the absorption and biodistribution of pharmacologically active substances throughout the human body. Membranes are formed by phospholipid bilayers that represent an energy barrier for permeating molecules. Crossing this energy barrier is assumed to be a singular event, and permeation has traditionally been described as a first-order kinetic process, proportional only to the concentration gradient of the permeating substance. For a given membrane composition, permeability was believed to be a unique property dependent only on the permeating molecule itself. We provide experimental evidence that this long-held view might not be entirely correct. Liposomes were used in copermeation experiments with a fluorescent probe, where simultaneous permeation of two substances occurred over a single phospholipid bilayer. Using an assay of six commonly prescribed drugs, we have found that the presence of a copermeant can either enhance or suppress the permeation rate of the probe molecule, often more than 2-fold in each direction. This can have significant consequences for the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of commonly prescribed drugs when used in combination and provide new insight into so-far unexplained drug-drug interactions as well as changing the perspective on how new drug candidates are evaluated and tested.

Department of Chemical Engineering University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 Prague 6 166 28 Czech Republic

Department of Organic Technology University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 Prague 6 166 28 Czech Republic

Department of Physical Chemistry Faculty of Science Palacký University Olomouc 17 listopadu 12 Olomouc 771 46 Czech Republic

Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague 6 162 00 Czech Republic

Zentiva k s U Kabelovny 130 Prague 10 102 37 Czech Republic

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