Benkowska-Biernacka Dominika, Smalyukh Ivan I, Matczyszyn Katarzyna
Advanced Materials Engineering and Modelling Group, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wyb. Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland.
Department of Physics and Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States.
J Phys Chem B. 2020 Dec 31;124(52):11974-11979. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c08907. Epub 2020 Dec 21.
Lyotropic myelin figures (MFs), i.e., long cylindrical structures formed by certain surfactants, owe their name to their resemblance to the biological membrane that covers nerve fibers. Herein, we used a strong bilayer-forming zwitterionic phospholipid stained by the Nile Red dye to study lamellar mesophases. Polarized optical microscopy and fluorescence confocal microscopy allowed us to investigate the morphology of myelin structures and determine the orientational order of amphiphilic molecules. The cross-sectional views reveal significant differences in the configurations of MFs within the liquid crystalline cell, as well as the details of a spontaneous and stimulated formation of branched lipid tubes. Our results provide insights into small-scale morphology and out-of-equilibrium structural changes in the multilamellar structures.
溶致性髓鞘样结构（MFs），即由某些表面活性剂形成的长圆柱形结构，因其与覆盖神经纤维的生物膜相似而得名。在此，我们使用了一种由尼罗红染料染色的强双层形成两性离子磷脂来研究层状中间相。偏光显微镜和荧光共聚焦显微镜使我们能够研究髓鞘样结构的形态，并确定两亲分子的取向顺序。横截面视图揭示了液晶盒内MFs构型的显著差异，以及分支脂质管自发和受激形成的细节。我们的结果为多层层状结构的小规模形态和非平衡结构变化提供了见解。
