Direct visualization of dispersed lipid bicontinuous cubic phases by cryo-electron tomography
Bulk and dispersed cubic liquid crystalline phases (cubosomes), present in the body and in living cell membranes, are believed to play an essential role in biological phenomena. Moreover, their biocompatibility is attractive for nutrient or drug delivery system applications. Here the three-dimension...
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Published in | Nature communications Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 8915 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London
Nature Publishing Group UK
17.11.2015
Nature Publishing Group Nature Pub. Group |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Bulk and dispersed cubic liquid crystalline phases (cubosomes), present in the body and in living cell membranes, are believed to play an essential role in biological phenomena. Moreover, their biocompatibility is attractive for nutrient or drug delivery system applications. Here the three-dimensional organization of dispersed cubic lipid self-assembled phases is fully revealed by cryo-electron tomography and compared with simulated structures. It is demonstrated that the interior is constituted of a perfect bicontinuous cubic phase, while the outside shows interlamellar attachments, which represent a transition state between the liquid crystalline interior phase and the outside vesicular structure. Therefore, compositional gradients within cubosomes are inferred, with a lipid bilayer separating at least one water channel set from the external aqueous phase. This is crucial to understand and enhance controlled release of target molecules and calls for a revision of postulated transport mechanisms from cubosomes to the aqueous phase.
Dispersed lipid self-assembly can form various types of particles, including cubosomes, which are useful for drug delivery. Here, Demurtas
et al
. visualize their three-dimensional structure, showing two continuous water channels separated by lipid bilayers and the mechanism of particle stabilization. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Present address: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen 5232, Switzerland |
ISSN: | 2041-1723 2041-1723 |
DOI: | 10.1038/ncomms9915 |