Nature‐Inspired Design and Application of Lipidic Lyotropic Liquid Crystals

Abstract

Amphiphilic lipids aggregate in aqueous solution into a variety of structural arrangements. Among the plethora of ordered structures that have been reported, many have also been observed in nature. In addition, due to their unique morphologies, the hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains, very high internal interfacial surface area, and the multitude of possible order−order transitions depending on environmental changes, very promising applications have been developed for these systems in recent years. These include crystallization in inverse bicontinuous cubic phases for membrane protein structure determination, generation of advanced materials, sustained release of bioactive molecules, and control of chemical reactions. The outstanding diverse functionalities of lyotropic liquid crystalline phases found in nature and industry are closely related to the topology, including how their nanoscopic domains are organized. This leads to notable examples of correlation between structure and macroscopic properties, which is itself central to the performance of materials in general. The physical origin of the formation of the known classes of lipidic lyotropic liquid crystalline phases, their structure, and their occurrence in nature are described, and their application in materials science and engineering, biology, medical, and pharmaceutical products, and food science and technology are exemplified. Amphiphilic LipidsThe ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under https://doi.

Spatial Nano-Morphology of the Prolamellar Body in Etiolated Arabidopsis thaliana Plants With Disturbed Pigment and Polyprenol Composition

“…More generally, PLB, similar to cubic membranes in other configurations, separate aqueous phase into a two-channel system enabling their different molecular composition and, therefore, function. The size of the water channels, controlled by the scale of the structure, can exclude or enable the localization of certain molecules on the particular side of the membrane (Mezzenga et al, 2019). In such way, we can directly link the ultrastructural features of the PLB, length-scale in particular, with new possible biological functions of this membrane arrangement performed on the molecular level.…”

“…The PLB structure is in general based on the triply periodic minimal surface template; however, it is characterized by the asymmetry leading to a geometrical imbalance between two sides of the membrane (Mezzenga et al, 2019). The majority of PLB configurations is formed via repetition of a basic tetrahedral tubular element forming 3D hexagonal lattice with the same symmetry as the zinc sulfide crystal -wurtzite or zincblende (Gunning and Steer, 1975;Murakami et al, 1985;Lindblom and Rilfors, 1989;Lindstedt and Liljenberg, 1990;Williams et al, 1998;Selstam et al, 2007).…”

Bicontinuous cubic phases in biological and artificial self-assembled systems

“…Light stimulation, chlorophyll, and membrane proteins involved in photosynthesis control the transition between PLBs with a bicontinuous cubic phase and lamellar structures. It is worth noting that the cubic membrane is asymmetric on both sides, forming the stroma of the etioplast and the PLB lumen [63,69,70]. Another important finding involves the cubic membrane structure in amoeba (Chaos carolinense) mitochondria.…”

Synchrotron Characterization of Hexagonal and Cubic Lipidic Phases Loaded with Azolate/Phosphane Gold(I) Compounds: A New Approach to the Uploading of Gold(I)-Based Drugs

“…[ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. More recently, cubosome and hexosome systems, in which the lipid bilayers are arranged in periodic two and three dimensional lattice structures, represent attractive smart delivery matrices for drugs and/or diagnostic agents with different water affinity [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. The latter structures have received increasing attention due to their properties, such as size, structure, and stability; ability to be tuned by their internal composition, polymer concentration, and processing conditions; and their ability to accommodate relatively large loads (drug or proteins).…”