Lyotropic liquid crystal engineering moving beyond binary compositional space – ordered nanostructured amphiphile self-assembly materials by design

Abstract

Ordered amphiphile self-assembly materials with a tunable three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure are of fundamental interest, and crucial for progressing several biological and biomedical applications, including in meso membrane protein crystallization, as drug and medical contrast agent delivery vehicles, and as biosensors and biofuel cells. In binary systems consisting of an amphiphile and a solvent, the ability to tune the 3D cubic phase nanostructure, lipid bilayer properties and the lipid mesophase is limited. A move beyond the binary compositional space is therefore required for efficient engineering of the required material properties. In this critical review, the phase transitions upon encapsulation of more than 130 amphiphilic and soluble additives into the bicontinuous lipidic cubic phase under excess hydration are summarized. The data are interpreted using geometric considerations, interfacial curvature, electrostatic interactions, partition coefficients and miscibility of the alkyl chains. The obtained lyotropic liquid crystal engineering design rules can be used to enhance the formulation of self-assembly materials and provides a large library of these materials for use in biomedical applications (242 references).

Cubosomes: The Next Generation of Smart Lipid Nanoparticles?

“…A recent review by van 't Hag et al details known compositions and phase behaviours of over 130 additives under excess hydration which are applicable to cubosome systems. [92] Other examples of bioactive lipids to date include mapping the phase behaviour of unsaturated fatty acid incorporation into cubosomes, [93] incorporation of monophosphoryl lipid A as an adjuvant for vaccine delivery, [44] incorporation of Oleoylethanolamide (OEA, a neuromodulatory lipid) to use cubosomes as a colloidal carrier [94] and the use of lipidated catalysts to use cubosomes as novel nanoreactors. [34]…”

Understanding the assembly of amphiphilic additives in bulk and dispersed non-lamellar lipid-based matrices: Phosphorylation, H-bonding and ionisation

“…There is ongoing research on the effect of additives on the lipid-water systems that form LCPs in order to control the size of the aqueous channels and phase transitions. A plethora of hydrophobic and amphiphilic guest molecules have been introduced into host liquid crystalline matrices, where the influence of additives on the swelling and phase transitions of lipidic mesophases is determined by the impact of the additives on the curvature of the bilayer [2,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. For LCPs, and inverted liquid crystalline mesophases in general, the truncated conical shape of the lipid molecule results in the formation of negatively curved structures.…”

Rapid detection of pathogens using lyotropic liquid crystals

“…However, their interest as materials for technical applications is largely overtaken by thermotropic liquid crystals, particularly calamitic nematics. Nevertheless, water based lyotropics are the preferred alternative in some biological applications, in general, those whose actual working conditions imply the use of hydrophilic media [22]. LLCs have been proposed, for example, as biomimetic vehicles for delivery of sparingly soluble drugs or medical contrast agents [23].…”