Assessing the Quality of Solvent-Assisted Lipid Bilayers Formed at Different Phases and Aqueous Buffer Media: A QCM-D Study.

Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) are low-complexity biomimetic membranes, serving as popular experimental platforms to study membrane organization and lipid transfer, membrane uptake of nanoparticles and biomolecules, and many other processes. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring has been utilized to probe the influence of several parameters on the quality of SLBs formed on Au- and SiO-coated sensors. The influence of the aqueous medium (i.

Spontaneous nanotube formation of an asymmetric glycolipid.

Over the past decades, advances in lipid nanotechnology have shown that self-assembled lipid structures providing ease of preparation, chemical stability, and biocompatibility represent a landmark on the development of multidisciplinary technologies. Lipid nanotubes (LNTs) are a unique class of lipid self-assembled structures, bearing unique properties such as high-aspect ratio, tunable diameter size, and precise molecular recognition. They can be obtained either by the action of external factors to already formed vesicles or spontaneously, the latter depending strongly on subtle molecular features.

Biophysical characterization of the recombinant chitinase chi18-5 with potential biotechnological interest.

Chitinase chi18-5 is an enzyme able to hydrolyze chitin and chitosan producing chitooligosaccharides (COS) of potential technological interest. chi18-5 is produced naturally by the fungus Trichoderma atroviride. It belongs to the glycosyl hydrolase (GH) family 18 of the Carbohydrate Active Enzyme (CAZy) database and it has 83% identity compared to the well-characterized chi42 of Trichoderma harzianum.

Liposome Fusion Mediated by Hydrophobic Magnetic Nanoparticles Stabilized with Oleic Acid and Modulated by an External Magnetic Field.

Membrane fusion is considered relevant in countless scientific areas and biotechnological processes, ranging from vital life events to biomedicine, pharmaceuticals, and materials engineering, among others. In this study, we employed hydrophobic oleic acid (OA)-coated magnetite (FeO) nanoparticles (MNP-OA) as a platform to induce the fusion of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl--glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine liposomes [large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs)] in a colloidal dispersion. This fusion was monitored through dynamic light scattering, turbidimetry, and fluorescence assay using the well-known Tb/dipicolinic acid (DPA) complex formation assay.

Alkyl esters of L-ascorbic acid: Stability, surface behaviour and interaction with phospholipid monolayers.

L-ascorbic acid alkyl esters (ASCn) are molecules of pharmaceutical interest for their amphiphilic nature and proposed antioxidant power. In contrast to L-ascorbic acid, ASC(n) with different acyl chain lengths behaved stably upon oxidation and a tautomeric isomerization was observed. In Langmuir films, when the ascorbic ring has a negative charge, ASC14 and ASC16 form stable monolayers, contrary to ASC10 and ASC12.