Anomalous membrane organization by omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids.

Omega fatty acids are currently being marketed as healthy food supplements as they have been implicated in multiple pathophysiological conditions, such as reducing plaque formation of Aβ peptide and inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection. Their mode of action has been hypothesized to be membrane reorganization by the unsaturated acyl chains, leading to the modulation of lipid-protein cross-talk. However, the lack of molecular details led us to evaluate the molecular effect of omega-6 (linolenic acid) and omega-9 (oleic acid) fatty acids on membrane organization using a consolidated approach of fluorescence spectroscopy and all-atom molecular dynamics simulation.

Molecular mechanisms underlying nanowire formation in pristine phthalocyanine.

Understanding the molecular processes of nanowire self-assembly is crucial for designing and controlling nanoscale structures that could lead to breakthroughs in functional materials. In this work, we focus on pristine phthalocyanines as a representative example of mesogenic supramolecular assemblies and have analyzed the formation of nanowires using classical molecular dynamics simulations. In the simulations, the molecules spontaneously form multi-columnar structures resembling supramolecular polymers that subsequently grow into more ordered aggregates.