Migas Urszula M, Abbey Lorna, Velasco-Torrijos Trinidad, McManus Jennifer J
Department of Chemistry, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth Co. Kildare, Ireland.
Soft Matter. 2014 Jun 14;10(22):3978-83. doi: 10.1039/c4sm00147h. Epub 2014 Apr 14.
Glycolipid phase behaviour is less well understood than for many phospholipids, but due to their structural and functional diversity, glycolipids represent an important group of amphiphiles from which biological function is derived. Here we have incorporated a synthetic glycolipid in binary mixtures with DOPC (1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) into giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) at biologically relevant concentrations and observed the phase behaviour of the lipid mixtures for a range of glycolipid concentrations. At low concentrations, the glycolipid is fully dispersed in the GUV membrane. At glycolipid molar concentrations above 10%, the formation of lipid tubules is observed, and is consistent with the formation of a columnar lipid phase. Lipid tubules are observed in aqueous and oil solvents, suggesting that both hexagonal and inverted hexagonal lipid arrangements can be formed. This work may offer insights into the biological function of glycolipids and the challenges in formulating them for use in industrial applications.
相较于许多磷脂，糖脂的相行为尚未得到充分理解，但由于其结构和功能的多样性，糖脂代表了一类重要的两亲分子，生物功能由此衍生而来。在这里，我们将一种合成糖脂与二油酰磷脂酰胆碱（1,2-二油酰-sn-甘油-3-磷酸胆碱，DOPC）以生物相关浓度混合，制备成二元混合物，并将其掺入巨型单层囊泡（GUVs）中，观察了一系列糖脂浓度下脂质混合物的相行为。在低浓度下，糖脂完全分散在GUV膜中。当糖脂摩尔浓度高于10%时，会观察到脂质小管的形成，这与柱状脂质相的形成一致。在水性和油性溶剂中均观察到脂质小管，这表明可以形成六方和反六方脂质排列。这项工作可能为深入了解糖脂的生物学功能以及将其用于工业应用时所面临的挑战提供见解。
