Bilayered structures self-assembled molecules

In the last decade or so, there have been a number of reports on self-assembled molecules or structures described as advanced materials or smart materials. Without question, the inspiration for this exciting work comes from the biological world, where the lipid bilayer of cell membranes plays a pivotal role. Past and recent achievements in self-assembled lipid bilayers as biosensor will now be described below. 

In addition to the adsorption process, in which the molecules reach the interface depending on their structure and relationship with the solvents, amphiphilic molecules show the tendency to organize and coordinate themselves into ordered sttuctures in water or solvent including the formation of aggregates such as micelles, liquid crystals (LCs), or bilayers. Such self-assembly phenomena can be described when the hydrophobic tails of surfactant molecules form a cluster to produce small aggregates, such as micelles, or large layered structures such as bilayers that are similar to a cell wall. ... 

The lipid molecule is the main constituent of biological cell membranes. In aqueous solutions amphiphilic lipid molecules form self-assembled structures such as bilayer vesicles, inverse hexagonal and multi-lamellar patterns, and so on. Among these lipid assemblies, construction of the lipid bilayer on a solid substrate has long attracted much attention due to the many possibilities it presents for scientific and practical applications [4]. Use of an artificial lipid bilayer often gives insight into important aspects ofbiological cell membranes [5-7]. The wealth of functionality of this artificial structure is the result of its own chemical and physical properties, for example, two-dimensional fluidity, bio-compatibility, elasticity, and rich chemical composition. 

The most versatile method to prepare such hollow capsules is self-assembly [203-205, 214, 215]. Owing to their amphiphilic nature and molecular geometry, lipid-based amphiphiles can aggregate into spherical closed bilayer structures in water so-called liposomes. It is quite reasonable that the hollow sphere structure of liposomes makes them suitable as precursors for the preparation of more functional capsules via modification of the surfaces with polymers and ligand molecules [205, 216, 217]. Indeed, numerous studies based on liposomes in this context have been performed [205, 209, 213]. 

The experiments discussed in this chapter have shown that a variety of chiral molecules self-assemble into cylindrical tubules and helical ribbons. These are indeed surprising structures because of their high curvature. One would normally expect the lowest energy state of a bilayer membrane to be flat or to have the minimum curvature needed to close off the edges of the membrane. By contrast, these structures have a high curvature, with a characteristic radius that depends on the material but is always fairly small compared with vesicles or other membrane structures. Thus, the key issue in understanding the formation of tubules and helical ribbons is how to explain the morphology with a characteristic radius. 

The self-assembling character of bilayer membranes is demonstrated by the formation of free-standing cast films from aqueous dispersions of synthetic bilayer membranes. The tendencies for association are sufficiently strong to allow the addition of guest molecules (nanoparticles, proteins, and various small molecules) to these films where the connective forces are secondary in nature and not primary. Synthetic polymer chemists have made use of these self-assembling tendencies to synthesize monolayer films. In particular, a monomer that contains both reactive groups and hydrophobic and hydrophilic areas is cast onto an appropriate template that self-assembles the monomer, holding it for subsequent polymerization. Thus, a bilayer structure is formed by... 

The most fascinating characteristic some amphiphile molecules exhibit is that, when mixed with water, they form self-assembly structures. This was already discussed in Chapter 2 on micelle formation. Since most of the biological lipids also exhibit self-assembly structure formation, this subject has been given much attention in the literature (Birdi, 1999). Lipid monolayer studies thus provide a very useful method to obtain information about SAM formation, both concerning technical systems and cell bilayer structures. 

Figure 11. (a) The chemical structure of a 24-membered macrocyclic molecule composed of alternating D- and L-amino acids, cyclo(Gln-(D-Leu-Trp)4-D-Leu 7. (b)A self-assembled tubular structure spanned across the bilayer lipid membrane. Flat ring-shaped units in the antiparallel configuration stack to form a tubular structure through extensive inter subunit hydrogen bonding and peptide side chain-lipid interactions. ... 

Life sciences provide a fascinating array of examples in which colloid and surface science plays a vital (pun intended ) role in maintaining and promoting supramolecular structures and processes that sustain life. A specific example is the phospholipid bilayers that form the walls of biological cells and separate the interior of the cells from the rest of the environment (see Fig. 1.2 see also Chapter 8, Section 11). These bilayers arise from self-assembly of component molecules, each of which consists of a hydrophilic head group... 

Fig. 3. (a) Chemical structure of a synthetic cyclic peptide composed of an alternating sequence of D- and L-amino acids. The side chains of the amino acids have been chosen such that the peripheral functional groups of the flat rings are hydrophobic and allow insertion into lipid bilayers, (b) Proposed structure of a self-assembled transmembrane pore comprised of hydrogen bonded cyclic peptides. The channel is stabilized by hydrogen bonds between the peptide backbones of the individual molecules. These synthetic pores have been demonstrated to form ion channels in lipid bilayers (71). 

Artificial membranes are used to study the influence of drug structure and of membrane composition on drug-membrane interactions. Artificial membranes that simulate mammalian membranes can easily be prepared because of the readiness of phospholipids to form lipid bilayers spontaneously. They have a strong tendency to self-associate in water. The macroscopic structure of dispersions of phospholipids depends on the type of lipids and on the water content. The structure and properties of self-assembled phospholipids in excess water have been described [74], and the mechanism of vesicle (synonym for liposome) formation has been reviewed [75]. While the individual components of membranes, proteins and lipids, are made up of atoms and covalent bonds, their association with each other to produce membrane structures is governed largely by hydrophobic effects. The hydrophobic effect is derived from the structure of water and the interaction of other components with the water structure. Because of their enormous hydrogen-bonding capacity, water molecules adopt a structure in both the liquid and solid state. 

Fig. 4 Stability and permeability of self-assembled amphiphilic structures. Amphiphilic molecules such as fatty acids having carbon chain lengths of 9 or more carbons form bilayer membranes when sufficiently concentrated, a Pure bilayers of ionized fatty acid are relatively unstable but become markedly more stable as long chain alcohols are added, b Dimensions of the amphiphile also play a role. Shorter chain amphiphiles (9-10 carbons) are less able to form bilayers, while those of intermediate chain length (12-14 carbons) produce stable bilayers that also are permeable to ionic and polar solutes. Longer chain lengths (16-18 carbons) produce bilayers that are increasingly less permeable to solutes [48]...

Liposomal formulations may also be used to deliver TLR4 agonists. Consisting of spherical vesicles formed by the self-assembly of phospholipid bilayers, liposomes are a versatile, biocompatible vaccine adjuvant formulation. The wide variety of available phospholipid molecules that are employed to make liposomes may have significant effects on the structure and biological activity of the adjuvant. 

Figure 1. (A) Schematic illustration of a phospholipid molecule with hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail. Cross-sectional view of (B) the micelle structure and (C) the bilayer sheet structure built through the self-assembly of the lipid molecules (A).

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