Modification of the CHARMM force field for DMPC lipid bilayer

The CHARMM force field for DMPC lipids was modified in order to improve agreement with experiment for a number of important properties of hydrated lipid bilayer. The modification consists in introduction of a scaling factor 0.83 for 1-4 electrostatic interactions (between atoms separated by three covalent bonds), which provides correct transgauche ratio in the alkane tails, and recalculation of the headgroup charges on the basis of HF/6-311(d,p) ab-initio computations. Both rigid TIP3P and flexible SPC water models were used with the new lipid model, showing similar results. The new model in a 75 ns simulation has shown a correct value of the area per lipid at zero surface tension, as well as good agreement with the experiment for the electron density, structure factor, and order parameters, including those in the headgroup part of lipids.     

A Silica Bilayer Supported on Ru(0001): Following the Crystalline-to Vitreous Transformation in Real Time with Spectro-microscopy

The crystalline-to-vitreous phase transformation of a SiO₂ bilayer supported on Ru(0001) was studied by time-dependent LEED, local XPS, and DFT calculations. The silica bilayer system has parallels to 3D silica glass and can be used to understand the mechanism of the disorder transition. DFT simulations show that the formation of a Stone–Wales-type of defect follows a complex mechanism, where the two layers show decoupled behavior in terms of chemical bond rearrangements. The calculated activation energy of the rate-determining step for the formation of a Stone—Wales-type of defect (4.3 eV) agrees with the experimental value. Charge transfer between SiO₂ bilayer and Ru(0001) support lowers the activation energy for breaking the Si−O bond compared to the unsupported film. Pre-exponential factors obtained in UHV and in O₂ atmospheres differ significantly, suggesting that the interfacial ORu underneath the SiO₂ bilayer plays a role on how the disordering propagates within the film.     

A Silica Bilayer Supported on Ru(0001): Following the Crystalline‐to Vitreous Transformation in Real Time with Spectro‐microscopy

The crystalline‐to‐vitreous phase transformation of a SiO₂ bilayer supported on Ru(0001) was studied by time‐dependent LEED, local XPS, and DFT calculations. The silica bilayer system has parallels to 3D silica glass and can be used to understand the mechanism of the disorder transition. DFT simulations show that the formation of a Stone–Wales‐type of defect follows a complex mechanism, where the two layers show decoupled behavior in terms of chemical bond rearrangements. The calculated activation energy of the rate‐determining step for the formation of a Stone—Wales‐type of defect (4.3 eV) agrees with the experimental value. Charge transfer between SiO₂ bilayer and Ru(0001) support lowers the activation energy for breaking the Si?O bond compared to the unsupported film. Pre‐exponential factors obtained in UHV and in O₂ atmospheres differ significantly, suggesting that the interfacial ORu underneath the SiO₂ bilayer plays a role on how the disordering propagates within the film.     

Supported bilayer lipid membrane arrays on photopatterned self-assembled monolayers

This work demonstrates the use of photocleavable cholesterol derivatives to create supported bilayer lipid membrane arrays on silica. The photocleavable cholesteryl tether is attached to the surface by using the reaction of an amine-functionalized self-assembled monolayer (SAM) and the N-hydroxysuccinimide-based reagent 9. The resultant SAM contains an ortho-nitrobenzyl residue that can be cleaved by photolysis by using soft (365 nm) UV light regenerating the original amine surface, and which can be patterned using a mask. The photoreaction yield was approximately 75 % which was significantly higher than previously found for related ortho-nitrobenzyl photochemistry on gold substrates. The SAMs were characterized by means of contact angle measurements, ellipsometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Patterned surfaces were characterized with SEM and AFM. After immersing the patterned surface into a solution containing small unilamellar vesicles of egg phosphatidylcholine (PC), supported lipid membranes were formed comprised of lipid bilayer over the amine functionalized "hydrophilic" regions and lipid monolayer over the cholesteryl "hydrophobic" regions. This was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy and AFM. FRAP studies yielded a lateral diffusion coefficient for the probe molecule of 0.14+/-0.05 microm(2) s(-1) in the bilayer regions and approximately 0.01 microm(2) s(-1) in the monolayer regions. This order of magnitude difference in diffusion coefficients effectively serves to isolate the bilayer regions from one another, thus creating a bilayer array.     

Molecular Diffusion Measurement in Lipid Bilayers over Wide Concentration Ranges: A Comparative Study

Molecular diffusion in biological membranes is a determining factor in cell signaling and cell function. In the past few decades, three main fluorescence spectroscopy techniques have emerged that are capable of measuring molecular diffusion in artificial and biological membranes at very different concentration ranges and spatial resolutions. The widely used methods of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and single‐particle tracking (SPT) can determine absolute diffusion coefficients at high (>100 μm^?2) and very low surface concentrations (single‐molecule level), respectively. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), on the other hand, is well‐suited for the intermediate concentration range of about 0.1–100 μm^?2. However, FCS in general requires calibration with a standard dye of known diffusion coefficient, and yields only relative measurements with respect to the calibration. A variant of FCS, z‐scan FCS, is calibration‐free for membrane measurements, but requires several experiments at different well‐controlled focusing positions. A recently established FCS method, electron‐multiplying charge‐coupled‐device‐based total internal reflection FCS (TIR‐FCS), referred to here as imaging TIR‐FCS (ITIR–FCS), is also independent of calibration standards, but to our knowledge no direct comparison between these different methods has been made. Herein, we seek to establish a comparison between FRAP, SPT, FCS, and ITIR–FCS by measuring the lateral diffusion coefficients in two model systems, namely, supported lipid bilayers and giant unilamellar vesicles.     

Using carbon nanotubes to detect polymer transitions

Raman spectral shifts of single‐wall carbon nanotubes embedded in polymer systems were used to measure transitions in polymers. Glass‐transition temperatures and secondary transitions were observed, and Raman spectroscopic data were compared with dynamic mechanical tests for a thermosetting and a thermoplastic polymer. The data confirm that the Raman spectral response of carbon nanotubes embedded in polymers is sensitive to polymer transitions. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 1492–1495, 2001     

Mixed Hybrid Lipid/Polymer Vesicles as a Novel Membrane Platform

Vesicles can be individually fabricated from naturally occurring lipid or synthetic block copolymer molecules via self‐assembly in aqueous solutions; the blending of both vesicle‐forming amphiphiles leads to the formation of hybrid membranes. Their final stabilities and lateral morphologies are strongly determined by the molar composition, size, and charge properties of the interacting components as well as by the lipid chain melting temperature. Upon merging the best properties of lipo‐ and polymersomal membranes, hybrid lipid/polymer vesicles represent a new scaffold for medical applications combining, e.g., combining the biocompatibility of liposomes with the high thermal and mechanical stability and functional variability of polymersomes within a single vesicle type. Up to now, several hybrid membrane systems and their corresponding vesicular morphologies have been studied, highlighting the attractive properties and features useful in selective delivery receptor scaffolding.

     

Evolution of white spots in lipid foam black films of DMPC

A new phenomenon in the kinetic behavior of thin liquid films is reported: thickening white spots (lenses) in black foam films of small unilamellar liposomes of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC). The time evolution of the lenses is registered and the shape changes are determined. Such structures form only at temperatures below the main phase transition temperature of the lipid bilayer (gel-liquid crystal first order phase transition).     

Subsolidus binary phase diagram of the bilayer compounds [n-C_nH_(2n+1)N(CH_3)_3]_2ZnCl_4(n = 16, 18)

The bilayer compounds[n-CnH2n+1N(CH3)3]2Zn Cl4(n=16,18)experience solid-solid phase transition within the temperature range of 310 to 340 K.The low-temperature crystal structures of the pure compounds are characteristic of the piling effect in which a 2D macro-anion Zn Cl42- is sandwiched between two alkylammonium layers.These layers become conformationally disordered in the high-temperature phases.The structures can alternatively be viewed as a double layer of alkylammonium ions between Zn Cl42- sheets and can be considered as crystalline models of lipid bilayers.The experimental subsolidus binary phase diagram of[n-C16H33N(CH3)3]2Zn Cl4-[n-C18H37N(CH3)3]2Zn Cl4 has also been established over the whole composition range by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC)and X-ray diffraction.In the phase diagram,one intermediate compound[n-C16H33N(CH3)3][n-C18H37N(CH3)3]Zn Cl4 at WC16C3Zn%47.50 and two eutectoid invariants points at WC16C3Zn%35.10 and75.70 were observed;the respective temperatures of the two eutectoids are 320±1 and 315±1 K.In addition,there are three noticeable solid solution ranges in the phase diagram:α-phase at the left,β-phase at the right,andγ-phase in the middle.     

Novel modified carbon nanotubes as a selective sorbent for preconcentration and determination of trace copper ions in fruit samples

In this work, multiwalled carbon nanotubes were reacted with N‐[3‐(triet‐hoxysilyl)propyl]isonicotinamide to prepare pyridine‐functionalized carbon nanotubes. This novel sorbent was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, thermal and elemental analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. Functionalized carbon nanotubes were applied for the preconcentration and determination of copper ions using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Various parameters such as sample pH, flow rate, eluent type and concentration, and its volume were optimized. Under optimal experimental conditions, the limit of detection, the relative standard deviation, and the recovery of the method were 0.65 ng/mL, 3.2% and 99.4%, respectively. After validating the method using standard reference materials, the new sorbent was applied for the extraction and determination of trace copper(II) ions in fruit samples.     

Locked‐in Biomimetic Surface Gradients that are Tunable in Size,Density and Functionalization

Tuneable and stable surface‐chemical gradients in supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) hold great promise for a range of applications in biological sensing and screening. Yet, until now, no method has been reported that provides temporal control of SLB gradients. Herein we report on the development of locked‐in SLB gradients that can be tuned in space, time and density by applying a process to control lipid phase behaviour, electric field and temperature. Stable gradients of charged Texas‐Red‐, serine‐ or biotin‐terminated lipids have been prepared. For example, the Texas‐Red surface density was varied from 0 to 2 mol %, while the length was varied between several tens to several hundreds of microns. At room temperature the gradients are shown to be stable up to 24 h, while at 60 °C the gradients could be erased in 30 min. Covalent and non‐covalent chemical modification of the gradients is demonstrated, for example, by FITC, hexahistidine‐tagged proteins, and SAv/biotin. The amenability to various (bio)chemistries paves the way for novel SLB‐based gradients, useful in sensing, high‐throughput screening and for understanding dynamic biological processes.     

Scanning force microscopy based rapid force curve acquisition on supported lipid bilayers: experiments and simulations using pulsed force mode.

In situ pulsed force mode scanning force microscopy (PFM-SFM) images of phase separated solid-supported lipid bilayers are discussed with the help of computer simulations. Simultaneous imaging of material properties and topography in a liquid environment by means of PFM-SFM is severely hampered by hydrodynamic damping of the cantilever. Stiffness and adhesion images of solid-supported membranes consisting of cholesterol, sphingomyelin, and 1,2-dioleyl-phosphatidylcholine obtained in aqueous solution exhibit contrast inversion of adhesion and stiff. ness images depending on parameters such as driving frequency, amplitude, and trigger setting. Simulations using a simple harmonic oscillator model explain experimental findings and give a deeper insight into the way PFM-SFM experiments have to be performed in order to obtain interpretable results and hence pave the way for reliable material contrast imaging at high speed.     

Pathway-Dependent Phase Transitions of Supramolecular Self-assemblies Containing Cationic Amphiphiles with Azobenzene and Disulfide Groups

There have been several attempts to construct supramolecular chemical systems that mimic the phase transitions in living systems. However, most of these phase transitions are one-to-one and induced by one stimulus or chemical; there have been few reports on the pathway-dependent phase transition of supramolecular self-assemblies in multi-step. To induce multistep phase transitions, molecular crystals were prepared that contained a cationic amphiphile bearing azobenzene and disulfide groups. A reducing agent caused the crystals to become vesicles, and adjacent, non-touching vesicles fused under UV and subsequent visible light. Adding a reducing agent to the worm-like aggregates that were generated after UV irradiation of the original crystals resulted in the growth of sheet-like aggregates. ¹H NMR and fluorescence anisotropy measurements showed that a series of phase transitions was induced by changes in the phase structures from molecular conversions of the reactive amphiphiles. The multiple pathway-dependent phase transitions of supramolecular self-assemblies can provide a methodology for developing new stimuli-responsive materials that exhibit the desirable properties under specific circumstances from a systems chemistry viewpoint.     

Phase Coexistence in a Dynamic Phase Diagram

Metastability and phase coexistence are important concepts in colloidal science. Typically, the phase diagram of colloidal systems is considered at the equilibrium without the presence of an external field. However, several studies have reported phase transition under mechanical deformation. The reason behind phase coexistence under shear flow is not fully understood. Here, multilamellar vesicle (MLV)‐to‐sponge (L₃) and MLV‐to‐L_α transitions upon increasing temperature are detected using flow small‐angle neutron scattering techniques. Coexistence of L_α and MLV phases at 40 °C under shear flow is detected by using flow NMR spectroscopy. The unusual rheological behavior observed by studying the lamellar phase of a non‐ionic surfactant is explained using ²H NMR and diffusion flow NMR spectroscopy with the coexistence of planar lamellar–multilamellar vesicles. Moreover, a dynamic phase diagram over a wide range of temperatures is proposed.