Development of a chemical vapor sensor using piezoelectric quartz crystals with coated unusual lipids

Piezoelectric quartz crystal sensors were developed using lipids with various properties for highly sensitive detection of chemical vapors. Lipids with varying lengths of alkyl chains were coated onto 10 MHz AT-cut quartz crystal resonators and the response of these modified crystals to chemical vapors were measured. It was shown that hydrophilic compounds, such as ethanol and methanol, could be recognized efficiently by lipids having shorter alkyl chains, whereas lipids with longer alkyl chains showed affinity to more hydrophobic vapors, such as toluene, hexane and cyclohexane. Frequency changes caused by adsorption of alcohols could be enhanced when cholesterol was co-immobilized in the lipid layer. To confirm the assumption that the sensor-response might be affected by the properties of lipids derived from acyl chains, we have examined the effects of two types of newly synthesized unusual lipids on sensor response. When lipids having one triple bond each at different positions on their alkyl chains were coated onto quartz crystals separately, lower responses were observed compared to responses obtained for a sensor with immobilized, saturated phosphatidylcholine. Lipids containing -branched acyl chains, however, showed good affinity for organic vapors, and sensor responses improved 4–5-fold. Moreover, these sensors were shown to have sensitivity of the same order as the humans' sense of smell (10⁻⁵–10⁻⁶ w/w in liquid paraffin) when measured using standard odorants (isovaleric acid, skatole, etc.) for an olfactometry established in Japan.     

Lipids of Capsicum annuum Fruit Pulp

Lipids from fruit pulp of the sweet red pepper (Capsicum annuum, Solanaceae) were characterized. The principal components of the lipids from pepper fruit pulp were neutral lipids with predominance of triacylglycerines (55.8%). The polar lipids contained sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerines and phosphotidylglycerines. The fatty-acid compositions of the neutral lipids, glycolipids, and phospholipids were determined.     

Time-dependent mixing and demixing processes in binary lipid monolayers studied by mixed and separate spreading using film pressure and film potential measurements

Using both spreading techniques — mixed spreading and separate spreading- and, simultaneously, film pressure and film potential measurements, the mixing behavior of the following five binary systems was investigated and compared: 1) system 1,2-dilauroyl-phosphatidylethanolamine/cholesterol; 2) system 1,2-dimyristoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine/cholesterol; 3) system 1,2-dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine/cholesterol; 4) system Na-eicosyl sulphate/hexadecanol; 5) system phosphatidic acid/1,2-dimyristoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine.Analyzing the time and concentration dependence of the /a isotherms and v/a isotherms (^s = film pressure, v ^s potential,a=average area per molecule in mixed films in the monolayers) of the binary monolayers it can be concluded that the components of the binary systems 1–4 are complete miscible in the monolayers. On the other hand the components of the system 5 are probably partially miscible only.     

Preparation of dehydrated powder of hemoglobin vesicles

The carbonyl hemoglobin (CO-Hb), which was used to prevent denaturation (metHb) during the preparation of samples, was encapsulated into lipid vesicles constituted from unsaturated phospholipid, cholesterol and unsaturated fatty acid. Unsaturated components were polymerized by γ-irradiation to enhance the stability of bilayer membrane. An aqueous dispersion of resulting Hb vesicles was freeze-dried in the presence of saccharides (50–200 mM) to obtain a dehydrated powder of Hb vesicles. Change in the vesicle size, the leakage of encapsulated Hb and the oxidation of Hb to metHb were not observed. Therefore, the long-term storage of Hb vesicles can be realized as a dry powder.     

Effect of Headgroups on Small‐Ion Permeability across Archaea‐Inspired Tetraether Lipid Membranes

This paper examines the effects of four different polar headgroups on small‐ion membrane permeability from liposomes comprised of Archaea‐inspired glycerolmonoalkyl glycerol tetraether (GMGT) lipids. We found that the membrane‐leakage rate across GMGT lipid membranes varied by a factor of ≤1.6 as a function of headgroup structure. However, the leakage rates of small ions across membranes comprised of commercial bilayer‐forming 1‐palmitoyl‐2‐oleoyl‐sn‐glycerol (PO) lipids varied by as much as 32‐fold within the same series of headgroups. These results demonstrate that membrane leakage from GMGT lipids is less influenced by headgroup structure, making it possible to tailor the structure of the polar headgroups on GMGT lipids while retaining predictable leakage properties of membranes comprised of these tethered lipids.     

Ultra performance liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry studies of formalin‐induced alterations of human brain lipidome

The development of ‘omics’ sciences offers new opportunities for the study of neurodegenerative diseases but increases at the same time the sample demand on brain banks that collect and store valuable human post‐mortem tissue. Our study aims to evaluate in lipidomics the potential of formalin‐fixed tissue compared with the cryopreservation method, considered as the gold standard for biochemical research. Two complementary liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analytical platforms were used on the basis of hybrid quadrupole time‐of‐flight and triple quadrupole mass spectrometers. Untargeted fingerprinting, semitargeted profiling of specific lipid classes and targeted monitoring of lipid species were performed in formalin‐fixed and cryopreserved samples to provide detailed information at the molecular level on the formalin‐induced alterations of the brain tissue. In vitro incubations of lipid standards were also performed to further describe the degradation processes induced by formaldehyde. Phospholipid compounds were found to be extensively hydrolysed, whilst the sphingolipid ones were preserved. N‐methylation and N‐formylation of amine‐containing phospholipids have also been evidenced. These findings show that the potential detrimental effect of formalin on the analytes of interest must be taken into account when analysing formalin‐fixed samples. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infrared Responsive Choline Phosphate Lipids for Synergistic Cancer Therapy

Choline phosphate lipids have been designed and developed as new-generation zwitterionic nanocarriers with excellent biocompatibility and bioorthogonality to provide a more programmable performance for cancer therapy. However, there is a lack of spatiotemporal and reversible control for drug release at target tumor cells, which can lead to severe adverse effects to normal tissue and discounted treatment outcome. Here, light-inducible Lip-cRGDfk/ICG/Dox liposomes were developed for synergistic cancer therapy. ICG can effectively convert light energy into selective heating in a local environment upon laser irradiation, thus inducing thermal ablation of tumor cells, and further reversibly trigger the spatiotemporal release of anticancer drugs (Dox) at tumor cells due to the conformation transformation of CP lipids to synergistically kill tumor cells. That Lip-cRGDfk/ICG/Dox exhibited a significant improvement for breast cancer therapy in vitro and in vivo is also demonstrated, thus it can serve as an efficient platform to noninvasively and spatiotemporally control the activation of cytotoxicity at tumor cells for precision cancer therapy.     

Lipid Switches: Stimuli-Responsive Liposomes through Conformational Isomerism Driven by Molecular Recognition

Advancements in the field of liposomal drug carriers have culminated in greatly improved delivery properties. An important aspect of this work entails development of designer liposomes for release of contents triggered by environmental changes. The majority of these systems are driven by chemical reactions in the presence of different stimuli. However, a promising new paradigm instead focuses on molecular recognition events as the impetus for content release. In certain cases, these platforms exploit synthetic lipid switches designed to undergo conformational changes upon binding to target ions or molecules that perturb membrane assembly, thereby triggering cargo release. Examples of this approach reported thus far showcase how rational design of lipid switches can result in dramatic changes in lipid assembly properties. These strategies show great promise for opening up new pathophysiological stimuli that can be harnessed for programmed content release in drug delivery applications.     

Synthesis and cytotoxicity of novel cholesterol–cobalt bis(dicarbollide) conjugates

The novel conjugates of cholesterol with cobalt – bis(dicarbollide) were synthesized by the ring-opening reactions of the cyclic oxonium derivatives of [3,3′-Co(C₂B₉H₁₁)₂]^– with the OH group of cholesterol 2-hydroxyethyl ether. The compounds obtained were tested for toxicity to glioblastoma U-87 MG cells and human embryo fibroblasts FECH-15 cells