TY - JOUR
T1 - Block liposomes from curvature-stabilizing lipids
T2 - Connected nanotubes, -rods, or -spheres
AU - Zidovska, Alexandra
AU - Ewert, Kai K.
AU - Quispe, Joel
AU - Carragher, Bridget
AU - Potter, Clinton S.
AU - Safinya, Cyrus R.
PY - 2009/3/3
Y1 - 2009/3/3
N2 - We report on the discovery of block liposomes, a new class of chain-melted (liquid) vesicles, with membranes comprised of mixtures of the membrane-curvature-stabilizing multivalent lipid MVLBG2 of colossal charge +16 e and neutral l,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC). In a narrow MVLBG2 composition range (8 - 10 mol %), cryo-TEM revealed block liposomes consisting of distinctly shaped, yet connected, nanoscale spheres, pears, tubes, or rods. Unlike typical liposome systems, where spherical vesicles, tubular vesicles, and cylindrical micelles are separated on the macroscopic scale, within a block liposome, shapes are separated on the nanometer scale. Diblock (pear - tube) and triblock (pear - tube - pear) liposomes contain nanotubes with inner lumen diameter of 10 - 50 nm. Diblock (sphere - rod) liposomes were found to contain micellar nanorods ≈4 nm in diameter and several micrometers in length, analogous to cytoskeletal filaments of eukaryotic cells. Block liposomes may find a range of applications in chemical and nucleic acid delivery and as building blocks in the design of templates for hierarchical structures.
AB - We report on the discovery of block liposomes, a new class of chain-melted (liquid) vesicles, with membranes comprised of mixtures of the membrane-curvature-stabilizing multivalent lipid MVLBG2 of colossal charge +16 e and neutral l,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC). In a narrow MVLBG2 composition range (8 - 10 mol %), cryo-TEM revealed block liposomes consisting of distinctly shaped, yet connected, nanoscale spheres, pears, tubes, or rods. Unlike typical liposome systems, where spherical vesicles, tubular vesicles, and cylindrical micelles are separated on the macroscopic scale, within a block liposome, shapes are separated on the nanometer scale. Diblock (pear - tube) and triblock (pear - tube - pear) liposomes contain nanotubes with inner lumen diameter of 10 - 50 nm. Diblock (sphere - rod) liposomes were found to contain micellar nanorods ≈4 nm in diameter and several micrometers in length, analogous to cytoskeletal filaments of eukaryotic cells. Block liposomes may find a range of applications in chemical and nucleic acid delivery and as building blocks in the design of templates for hierarchical structures.
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U2 - 10.1021/la8022375
DO - 10.1021/la8022375
M3 - Article
C2 - 18834165
AN - SCOPUS:65249095991
SN - 0743-7463
VL - 25
SP - 2979
EP - 2985
JO - Langmuir
JF - Langmuir
IS - 5
ER -