Lipid self-assembly

 

K. Sugihara, M. Chami, I. Derenyi, J. Voros, and T. Zambelli, ACS nano 6, 6626 (2012) DOI

We are interested in the fundamental mechanism behind lipid self-assembly. The main component of bacterial cell membranes, 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE), self-assembles into single-wall tubes with an outer diameter of 19.1 ± 4.5 nm due to the balance between bending energy and surface tension.

 

K. Sugihara, M. Delai, R. Mahnna, J. Kusch, D. Poulikakos, J. Voros, T. Zambelli, and A. Ferrari, Integrative biology 5, 423 (2013) DOI

The surface-assembled lipid nanotubes were used to monitor cell force activities.

 

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K. Jajcevic, M. Chami, K. Sugihara, Small (2016) DOI

The lipid nanotubes can be used as a template to create solid structures. For example, gold nanoparticles were attached to the lipid nanotubes to fabricated gold nanowires.

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A. Kozintsev and K. Sugihara,  Rsc Adv 7 (33), 20700 (2017)

LNTs were also used to connect cells, which can be used as a model system for studying the function of tunneling nanotubes.