Understanding membranes through the molecular design of lipids.
Lipids are amphiphilic molecules that are composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. A typical membranous aggregate (vesicles, water-filled lipid nanospheres) is formed upon the self-organization of lipids in water from a diverse collection of amphiphiles producing a dynamic supramolecular structure that shows phase behavior and ordering as required for specific biological functions. The determination of various physical properties of lipid aggregates is the key to determining structure-function relationships. Over the years, we have designed and synthesized a wide variety of lipid molecular systems for the investigation of their membrane-forming properties and have used them for purposes such as gene delivery and enzyme activation. In this feature article, we focus on our work on various types of lipids including ion-paired amphiphiles, cholesterol-based lipids, aromatic lipids, macrocyclic lipids containing disulfide tethers, cationic dimeric lipids, and so forth. The emphasis is on experimental design and bottom-line conclusions.
Department of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India. sb@orgchem.iisc.ernet.in
Santanu
S
Bhattacharya
Joydeep
J
Biswas
D002784:Cholesterol / Q000737:chemistry; D005454:Fluorescence Polarization; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D008055:Lipids; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D002784:Cholesterol