Almsherqi Zakaria A, Margadant Felix, Deng Yuru
Cubic Membrane Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Adv Planar Lipid Bilayers Liposomes. 2010;12:79-99. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-381266-7.00004-3. Epub 2010 Oct 21.
Biomembranes are traditionally viewed as flat phospholipid-bilayer sheets delineating the cell boundaries and dividing the cell into multiple subcellular organelles with specialized functions. However, biological membranes may also fold up into three-dimensional nanoperiodic arrangements, termed cubic membranes. This type of geometry is mathematically well described and extensively studied in lipidic cubic phase systems. This chapter will (1) summarize similarities and dissimilarities between cubic membranes and cubic phases; (2) provide an update on the experimental data describing the role of lipids, proteins and electrostatic charges on the biogenesis of cubic membranes; and (3) discuss their potential function in intracellular macromolecular transport and as optical filters, as well as potential practical applications such as gene delivery vehicles.
传统上，生物膜被视为界定细胞边界并将细胞划分为具有特定功能的多个亚细胞器的扁平磷脂双分子层薄片。然而，生物膜也可能折叠成三维纳米周期性排列，即立方膜。这种几何结构在脂质立方相系统中得到了很好的数学描述和广泛研究。本章将（1）总结立方膜与立方相之间的异同；（2）提供关于描述脂质、蛋白质和静电荷在立方膜生物发生中作用的实验数据的最新情况；（3）讨论它们在细胞内大分子运输中的潜在功能以及作为光学滤波器的功能，以及诸如基因传递载体等潜在的实际应用。
