Micellar transport mechanism

Multiple emulsions are usually not empty. Soluble active materials are entrapped during the emulsification in the inner oily phase. Because of the osmotic pressure gradient, the active matter tends to diffuse and migrate from the internal phase to the external interface mostly through a controlled reverse micellar transport mechanism (Figure 7.10a) (Garti and Bisperink, 1998 Garti and Benichou, 2001). The dilemma that researchers were faced with was how to control the diffusion of oil molecules, as well as the emulsifier molecules... 

The basic mechanism for surfactants to enhance solubility and dissolution is the ability of surface-active molecules to aggregate and form micelles [35], While the mathematical models used to describe surfactant-enhanced dissolution may differ, they all incorporate micellar transport. The basic assumption underlying micelle-facilitated transport is that no enhanced dissolution takes place below the critical micelle concentration of the surfactant solution. This assumption is debatable, since surfactant molecules below the critical micelle concentration may improve the wetting of solids by reducing the surface energy. 

We note that earlier research focused on the similarities of defect interaction and their motion in block copolymers and thermotropic nematics or smectics [181, 182], Thermotropic liquid crystals, however, are one-component homogeneous systems and are characterized by a non-conserved orientational order parameter. In contrast, in block copolymers the local concentration difference between two components is essentially conserved. In this respect, the microphase-separated structures in block copolymers are anticipated to have close similarities to lyotropic systems, which are composed of a polar medium (water) and a non-polar medium (surfactant structure). The phases of the lyotropic systems (such as lamella, cylinder, or micellar phases) are determined by the surfactant concentration. Similarly to lyotropic phases, the morphology in block copolymers is ascertained by the volume fraction of the components and their interaction. Therefore, in lyotropic systems and in block copolymers, the dynamics and annihilation of structural defects require a change in the local concentration difference between components as well as a change in the orientational order. Consequently, if single defect transformations could be monitored in real time and space, block copolymers could be considered as suitable model systems for studying transport mechanisms and phase transitions in 2D fluid materials such as membranes [183], lyotropic liquid crystals [184], and microemulsions [185],... 

Surfactant Effects on Microbial Membranes and Proteins. Two major factors in the consideration of surfactant toxicity or inhibition of microbial processes are the disruption of cellular membranes b) interaction with lipid structural components and reaction of the surfactant with the enzymes and other proteins essential to the proper functioning of the bacterial cell (61). The basic structural unit of virtually all biological membranes is the phospholipid bilayer (62, 63). Phospholipids are amphiphilic and resemble the simpler nonbiological molecules of commercially available surfactants (i.e., they contain a strongly hydrophilic head group, whereas two hydrocarbon chains constitute their hydrophobic moieties). Phospholipid molecules form micellar double layers. Biological membranes also contain membrane-associated proteins that may be involved in transport mechanisms across cell membranes. 

A quantitative model must consider the diffusion of monomers and micelles, and the micellar kinetics mechanisms as it was reviewed in the paper by Dushkin [94] or in the book by Joos [16]. As example the transport equations for a continuously expanding surface can be given in the following form... 

Figure 7 Schematic illustration of the two possible transport mechanisms (a) reverse micellar and (b) lamellar thmning transport of marker from the inner aqueous phase to the continuous aqueous phase.

Additional instability mechanisms and release pafliways have been demonslrated and discussed in detail by various authors. These mechanisms include transport through thinned lamella (Fig. 7b), transport of adducts or complexes that are formed in die oil phase, and other variations of these mechanisms. It seems, however, that the main instability and release mechanisms are the parallel or simultaneously occurring phenomena of reverse micellar transport and coalescence. 

Most of release studies are done in W/OAV multiple-emulsion systems where an active water soluble molecule is present in the inner aqueous phase. Several attempts have been made to explain the transport phenomena of entrapped addenda from the inner to the outer phase of multiple-emulsion droplets. It has been demonstrated that for lipid soluble material dissolved in the oil phase, the release obeys first-order kinetics and is diffusion controlled with excellent accordance to Pick s law. Two mechanisms for the permeation through the oil intermediate phase are well accepted, the first being via the reverse micellar transport (Figure 7.10 ) and the second via diffusion across a very thin lamellae of surfactant phase formed in areas where the oil layer is very thin (Figure 10b). 

At the inner phase, BSA provides a mechanical barrier to the release of small molecules from the internal interface. The release proceeds mainly via reverse micellar transport. The presence of BSA reduces the chance of reverse micelle formation and thus decreases the release rate of entrapped addenda within the emulsion droplets. 

The intestinal absorption of dietary cholesterol esters occurs only after hydrolysis by sterol esterase steryl-ester acylhydrolase (cholesterol esterase, EC 3.1.1.13) in the presence of taurocholate [113][114], This enzyme is synthesized and secreted by the pancreas. The free cholesterol so produced then diffuses through the lumen to the plasma membrane of the intestinal epithelial cells, where it is re-esterified. The resulting cholesterol esters are then transported into the intestinal lymph [115]. The mechanism of cholesterol reesterification remained unclear until it was shown that cholesterol esterase EC 3.1.1.13 has both bile-salt-independent and bile-salt-dependent cholesterol ester synthetic activities, and that it may catalyze the net synthesis of cholesterol esters under physiological conditions [116-118], It seems that cholesterol esterase can switch between hydrolytic and synthetic activities, controlled by the bile salt and/or proton concentration in the enzyme s microenvironment. Cholesterol esterase is also found in other tissues, e.g., in the liver and testis [119][120], The enzyme is able to catalyze the hydrolysis of acylglycerols and phospholipids at the micellar interface, but also to act as a cholesterol transfer protein in phospholipid vesicles independently of esterase activity [121],... 

The solubilization phenomenon, which refers to the dissolution of normally insoluble or only slightly soluble compounds in water caused by the addition of surfactants, is one of the most striking effects encountered for surfactant systems. Solubilization is of considerable physico-chemical interst, such as in discussion of the structure and dynamics of micelles and of the mechanism of enzyme catalysis, and has numerous practical applications, such as in detergency, in pharmaceutical preparations and in micellar catalysis. In biology, solubilization phenomena are most significant, e.g., cholesterol solubilization in phospholipid bilayers and fat solubilization in fat digestion and transport. 

The bile acids are 24-carbon steroid derivatives. The two primary bile acids, cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid, are synthesized in the hepatocytes from cholesterol by hy-droxylation, reduction, and side chain oxidation. They are conjugated by amide linkage to glycine or taurine before they are secreted into the bile (see cholesterol metabolism. Chapter 19). The mechanism of secretion of bile acids across the canalicular membrane is poorly understood. Bile acids are present as anions at the pH of the bile, and above a certain concentration (critical micellar concentration) they form polyanionic molecular aggregates, or micelles (Chapter 11). The critical micellar concentration for each bile acid and the size of the aggregates are affected by the concentration of Na+ and other electrolytes and of cholesterol and lecithin. Thus, bile consists of mixed micelles of conjugated bile acids, cholesterol, and lecithin. While the excretion of osmotically active bile acids is a primary determinant of water and solute transport across the canalicular membrane, in the canaliculi they contribute relatively little to osmotic activity because their anions aggregate to form micelles. 

Recent investigations into the mechanism of action of these bile acids indicate that ursodeoxycholic acid has certain advantages over chenodeoxycholic acid in the context of the overall homeostasis of cholesterol metabolism (F6). In contrast to chenodeoxycholic acid, ursodeoxycholic acid does not suppress bile acid synthesis (H7), possibly because the a-orientation of the 7-hydroxyl group of chenodeoxycholic acid is required to inhibit cholesterol 7a-hydroxylase activity. Thus, cholesterol breakdown into bile acids is not reduced by ursodeoxycholic acid. Other favorable factors are that ursodeoxycholic acid has a reduced capacity to solubilize cholesterol into micellar solution compared to chenodeoxycholic acid and intestinal cholesterol absorption is decreased by this bile acid (F6, H7). However, in gallbladder bile the relative limitation of ursodeoxycholic acid for micellar solubilization of cholesterol is compensated for by an ability to transport... 

Recent physical-chemical observations on native mammalian systems reveal that the proposed mixed micellar mechanism of lipid solubilization and transport in both bile and in upper small intestinal contents is incomplete [1,260-263]. Bile is predominantly a mixed micellar solution but, particularly when supersaturated with Ch, also contains small liquid-crystalline vesicles which, as suggested from model systems [239], are another vehicle for Ch and L transport. In dog bile which is markedly unsaturated with Ch [258], these vesicles exist in dilute concentrations and may be markers of the detergent properties of BS on the cells lining the biliary tree and/or related to the mode of bile formation at the level of the canaliculus. In human hepatic bile, which is generally dilute and markedly supersaturated with Ch, these vesicles may be the predominant form of Ch and L solubilization and transport [261]. If hepatic bile is extremely dilute, it is theoretically possible that no BS-L-Ch micelles may be present [268] all of the lipid content may be aggregated... 

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