Preparation and characterization of a supramolecular hydrogel made of phospholipids and oleic acid with a high water content.

A hydrogel formed with phospholipids and fatty acids would be of great interest in the medical field due to the biological relevance that these molecules have in living organisms. However, the tendency of phospholipid mixtures to form vesicular or micellar aggregates at high water content hinders the formation of this type of hydrogel. In this study, a highly hydrated hydrogel (95% water) was formed with hydrogenated phosphatidylcholine and oleic acid.

A lamellar body mimetic system for the treatment of oxazolone-induced atopic dermatitis in hairless mice.

Background: Atopic dermatitis is a common skin disease characterized by a Th2 cell-dominant inflammatory infiltrate, elevated serum IgE levels and impaired epidermal barrier function. It is associated to abnormal epidermal lamellar body secretion, producing alteration in lipid composition and extracellular lamellar membrane organization.

Objectives: The oxazolone-induced atopic dermatitis in hairless mice was used to evaluate in vivo the effect of the application of a lipid system that mimics the morphology, structure and composition of epidermal lamellar bodies.

Sorption-desorption test for functional assessment of skin treated with a lipid system that mimics epidermal lamellar bodies.

Background: Many skin diseases are associated with either increases or decreases in lamellar body secretion, or dysfunctional lamellar bodies. Consequently, diseased skin is characterized by reduced barrier function and altered lipid composition and organization. Human skin is commonly evaluated in vivo with non-invasive biophysical techniques.

Reducing the Harmful Effects of Infrared Radiation on the Skin Using Bicosomes Incorporating β-Carotene.

Aim: In this work the effect of infrared (IR) radiation, at temperatures between 25 and 30°C, on the formation of free radicals (FRs) in the skin is studied. Additionally, the influence of IR radiation at high temperatures in the degradation of skin collagen is evaluated. In both experiments the protective effect against IR radiation of phospholipid nanostructures (bicosomes) incorporating β-carotene (Bcb) is also evaluated.

Lamellar body mimetic system: An up-to-down repairing strategy of the stratum corneum lipid structure.

Epidermal lamellar bodies (LBs) are organelles that secrete their content, mainly lipids and enzymes, into the intercorneocyte space of the stratum corneum (SC) to form the lamellar structure of this tissue. Thus, LBs have a key role in permeability and the microbial cutaneous barrier. In this work, a complex lipid system that mimics the morphology, structure and composition of LBs has been designed.

Advanced lipid systems containing β-carotene: stability under UV-vis radiation and application on porcine skin in vitro.

Phospholipid-based nanostructures, bicelles and bicosomes, are proposed as carriers of the antioxidant β-carotene. The stability of these nanostructures and their carotenoid cargo was evaluated in an oxidation environment induced by ultraviolet A, visible and infrared A radiation (UVA-VIS-IRA). Additionally, the effect of these nanoaggregates on non-irradiated and irradiated skin microstructure was studied.

A rhenium tris-carbonyl derivative as a model molecule for incorporation into phospholipid assemblies for skin applications.

A rhenium tris-carbonyl derivative (fac-[Re(CO)3Cl(2-(1-dodecyl-1H-1,2,3,triazol-4-yl)-pyridine)]) was incorporated into phospholipid assemblies, called bicosomes, and the penetration of this molecule into skin was monitored using Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR). To evaluate the capacity of bicosomes to promote the penetration of this derivative, the skin penetration of the Re(CO)3 derivative dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a typical enhancer, was also studied. Dynamic light scattering results (DLS) showed an increase in the size of the bicosomes with the incorporation of the Re(CO)3 derivative, and the FTIR microspectroscopy showed that the Re(CO)3 derivative incorporated in bicosomes penetrated deeper into the skin than when dissolved in DMSO.

Characterization of new DOPC/DHPC platform for dermal applications.

Systems formed by mixtures of the phospholipids dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) and dihexanoylphosphatidylcholine (DHPC) were characterized by use of differential scanning calorimetry, small angle X-ray scattering and two electron-microscopy techniques, freeze fracture electron microscopy and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy. These techniques allowed for the determination of the size, morphology, structural topology, self-assembly and thermotropic behavior of the nanostructures present in the mixtures. The interaction between the two phospholipids provides curvatures, irregularities and the increase of thickness and flexibility in the membrane.

Bicellar systems to modify the phase behaviour of skin stratum corneum lipids.

Bicellar systems are a fascinating category of versatile lipid assemblies that comprise bilayered disk-shaped nanoaggregates formed in water by long and short alkyl chain phospholipids. Bicelles bridge the gap between micelles and lipid vesicles by combining the attractive properties of both systems. These structures have recently been proposed in dermatological, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.

A unique bicellar nanosystem combining two effects on stratum corneum lipids.

In this work a new composition (dioleylphosphatidylcholine, DOPC, and dihexanoylphosphocholine, DHPC) is used to form the bicellar system and to evaluate their effect on stratum corneum (SC) lipids. Through this article, "bicellar system" will refer to a lipid binary system in which lipids are self-assembled forming different nanostructures. DOPC/DHPC system is characterized by dynamic light scattering and cryo-transmission electron microscopy showing two different nanostructures: unilamellar vesicles and tubular structures.

Bicelles: lipid nanostructured platforms with potential dermal applications.

Bicelles emerge as promising membrane models, and because of their attractive combination of lipid composition, small size and morphological versatility, they become new targets in skin research. Bicelles are able to modify skin biophysical parameters and modulate the skin's barrier function, acting to enhance drug penetration. Because of their nanostructured assemblies, bicelles have the ability to penetrate through the narrow intercellular spaces of the stratum corneum of the skin to reinforce its lipid lamellae.

Application of bicellar systems on skin: diffusion and molecular organization effects.

The effect of bicelles formed by dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC)/dihexanoylphosphatidylcholine (DHPC) on stratum corneum (SC) lipids was studied by attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy at different temperatures. Analysis of the lipid organization in terms of chain conformational order and lateral packing shows that the use of bicelles hampers the fluidification of SC lipids with temperature and leads to a lateral packing corresponding to a stable hexagonal phase. Grazing incidence small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS and GIWAXS) techniques confirm these results and give evidence of higher lamellar order after treatment with these bicelles.

Conformational changes in stratum corneum lipids by effect of bicellar systems.

Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy was applied to study the effects of the bicelles formed by dimyristoyl-glycero-phosphocholine (DMPC) and dihexanoyl-glycero-phosphocholine (DHPC) in porcine stratum corneum (SC) in vitro. A comparison of skin samples treated and untreated with bicelles at different temperatures was carried out. The analysis of variations after treatment in the position of the symmetric CH2 stretching, CH2 scissoring, and CH2 rocking vibrations reported important information about the effect of bicelles on the skin.

Conversion of non-fibrillar beta-sheet oligomers into amyloid fibrils in Alzheimer's disease amyloid peptide aggregation.

Abeta(1-40) is one of the main components of the fibrils found in amyloid plaques, a hallmark of brains affected by Alzheimer's disease. It is known that prior to the formation of amyloid fibrils in which the peptide adopts a well-ordered intermolecular beta-sheet structure, peptide monomers associate forming low and high molecular weight oligomers. These oligomers have been previously described in electron microscopy, AFM, and exclusion chromatography studies.