Lyotropic Phase Behaviour of Biological Amphiphiles

Abstract

A brief overview is given of the lyotropic phase behaviour exhibited by biological amphiphiles, with particular emphasis on the non‐lamellar liquid‐crystalline phases.

Supramolecular dendritic liquid quasicrystals

“…Such phases are found in lyotropic systems 2 (for example, lipid-water, soap-water), in a range of block copolymers 3 and in thermotropic (solvent-free) liquid crystals 4 . The resulting periodicity can be one-dimensional (lamellar phases), two-dimensional (columnar phases) or three dimensional ('micellar' or 'bicontinuous' phases).…”

“…Variations in the strength of the North Atlantic Ocean thermohaline circulation have been linked to rapid climate changes 1 during the last glacial cycle through oscillations in North Atlantic Deep Water formation and northward oceanic heat flux [2][3][4] .T h e strength of the thermohaline circulation depends on the supply of warm, salty water to the North Atlantic, which, after losing heat to the atmosphere, produces the dense water masses that sink to great depths and circulate back south 2 . Here we analyse two Caribbean Sea sediment cores, combining Mg/Ca palaeothermometry with measurements of oxygen isotopes in foraminiferal calcite in order to reconstruct tropical Atlantic surface salinity 5,6 during the last glacial cycle.…”

Physical coupling between lipids and proteins: a paradigm for cellular control

“…Fluid Lamellar [34][35][36][37] Type II Type II lipids include the phosphatidylethanolamines (left) which have small headgroup cross-sectional areas (in the case of PE, three methyl groups less compared to the PC headgroup) as compared to the that of the hydrocarbon tails leading to a conical shape. These will therefore assemble to form curved interfaces pointing towards the aqueous exterior (type II/ negative curvature).…”

Exploring Microstructural Changes in Structural Analogues of Ibuprofen-Hosted In Situ Gelling System and Its Influence on Pharmaceutical Performance

“…Structural properties of lipids, water content and temperature of the system govern the type of liquid crystal (LC) phase or mesophase formed within system. Most commonly used techniques for mesophase identification include small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and optical microscopy (5). Different LC phases like lamellar, hexagonal and transparent cubic phases have been reported by researchers in lipid/water systems including isotropic solutions containing micelles or vesicles (6)(7)(8)(9).…”