Thermodynamics and structure of model bio-membrane of liver lipids in presence of imidazolium-based ionic liquids.

Ionic liquids (ILs) are the attractions of researchers today due to their vast area of potential applications. For biomedical uses, it becomes essential to understand their interactions with cellular membrane. Here, the membrane is mimicked with lipid bilayer and monolayer composed of liver lipids extract.

Imidazolium-based ionic liquids cause mammalian cell death due to modulated structures and dynamics of cellular membrane.

Here, we report the toxic effects of various imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) with varying hydrocarbon chain lengths, on different human cell lines. Multiple biological assays have shown that the ILs with long hydrocarbon chains have stronger adverse effect especially on human liver cancer cells (Huh-7.5 cells).