Thermo-driven self-assembly of a PEG-containing amphiphile in a bilayer membrane.

RSC Adv

Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku Sendai 980-8577 Japan.

Published: July 2020

Self-assembly of lipid molecules in a plasma membrane, namely lipid raft formation, is involved in various dynamic functions of cells. Inspired by the raft formation observed in the cells, here we studied thermally induced self-assembly of a synthetic amphiphile, bola-AkDPA, in a bilayer membrane. The synthetic amphiphile consists of a hydrophobic unit including fluorescent aromatic and aliphatic components and hydrophilic tetraethylene glycol chains attached at both ends of the hydrophobic unit. In a polar solvent, bola-AkDPA formed aggregates to show excimer emission. In a lipid bilayer membrane, bola-AkDPA showed intensified excimer emission upon increase of its concentration or elevation of the temperature; bola-type amphiphiles containing oligoethylene glycol chains likely tend to form self-assemblies in a bilayer membrane triggered by thermal stimuli.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9055338PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d0ra03920aDOI Listing

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