Model biomimetic lipid membranes based on quaternary lipid-water systems for encapsulation of bioactive molecules

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Sampa Sarkar, Charlotte Conn and Calum Drummond

RMIT University, Australia

: J Nanomater Mol Nanotechnol

Abstract

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The cell membrane environment, which is ubiquitous in biological systems, provides an exceptional model to devise smart nanostructures based on the molecular self-assembly of biological macromolecules such as carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins. Amphiphilic biomolecules such as lipids can self-assemble into nanostructures of well-defined geometry. The most common of these nanostructures is the lamellar phase which is analogous to the lipid bilayer structure of the cell membrane. Other, more complex architectures may also self-assemble including the lipidic cubic phase, which retains the fundamental lipid bilayer structure. Proteins, especially membrane proteins, and peptides, are very fragile when removed from their native cell membrane environment. An appropriate biomimetic environment is required for long-term storage, as well as for various applications of protein-based systems including in meso crystallization, delivery of therapeutic proteins and peptides, biosensors and cosmeceuticals. To date, synthetic lipid nanomaterials have lacked the complexity of the biological cell membrane, which is composed of hundreds of different lipids. In this work, we investigate the phase behavior of quaternary lipid systems, based on the lipid monoolein, with two additional lipid additives and water. The investigated additives are mainly endogenous and include phospholipids, sphingomyelin and cholesterol. A systematic variation of lipid composition has allowed us to extract the effect of different physiologically relevant lipids on bilayer properties and the nanostructure of the lipidic cubic phase.

Biography

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Email: s.sampa2007@gmail.com