Showing papers in "Faraday Discussions in 2013"
TL;DR: These processes are studied theoretically and shown to be driven by membrane tension generated by spontaneous curvature, a 'spontaneous' tension that can vary over several orders of magnitudes and can be as high as 1 mJ m(-2).
Abstract: Recent experimental studies on supported lipid bilayers and giant vesicles have shown that uni-lamellar membrane systems can undergo spontaneous tubulation, i.e., can form membrane tubules or nanotubes without the application of external forces. In the case of supported lipid bilayers, the tube formation was induced by the adsorption of antimicrobial peptides. In the case of giant vesicles, spontaneous tubulation was observed after the polymer solution inside the vesicles underwent phase separation into two aqueous phases. Here, these processes are studied theoretically and shown to be driven by membrane tension generated by spontaneous curvature. The latter curvature is estimated for different types of adsorbing particles, such as ions, small molecules, and macromolecules, that differ in their size and in their adsorption kinetics. When the two sides of the membranes are exposed to two different concentrations of these particles, the membranes will acquire a spontaneous (or preferred) curvature. Particularly large spontaneous curvatures are induced by the adsorption of amphipathic peptides and BAR domain proteins. Another mechanism that induces spontaneous curvature is provided by different depletion layers in front of the two sides of the membranes. Irrespective of its molecular origin, a spontaneous curvature is predicted to generate a tension in weakly curved membranes, a ‘spontaneous’ tension that can vary over several orders of magnitudes and can be as high as 1 mJ m−2. The concept of spontaneous tension is first used to explain the spontaneous tubulation of supported lipid bilayers when exposed to adsorbing particles. This tubulation process is energetically preferred when the spontaneous tension exceeds the adhesive strength of the underlying solid support. Furthermore, in the case of giant vesicles, the spontaneous tension can balance the osmotic pressure difference between the interior and exterior aqueous compartment. The vesicles are then able to form stable cylindrical nanotubes that protrude into the vesicle interior as observed recently for membranes in contact with two aqueous polymer phases. In these latter systems, the vesicle membranes are governed by two spontaneous tensions that can be directly measured since they are intimately related to the effective and intrinsic contact angles.
242 citations
TL;DR: This study presents a comparison between aerosol properties observed at a preserved forest site in Central Amazonia and at a heavily biomass burning impacted site in south-western Amazonia, finding that sulphate at the impacted site decreases, on average, from 12% of PM2.5 mass during the wet season to 5% in the dry season.
Abstract: In the wet season, a large portion of the Amazon region constitutes one of the most pristine continental areas, with very low concentrations of atmospheric trace gases and aerosol particles. However, land use change modifies the biosphere–atmosphere interactions in such a way that key processes that maintain the functioning of Amazonia are substantially altered. This study presents a comparison between aerosol properties observed at a preserved forest site in Central Amazonia (TT34 North of Manaus) and at a heavily biomass burning impacted site in south-western Amazonia (PVH, close to Porto Velho). Amazonian aerosols were characterized in detail, including aerosol size distributions, aerosol light absorption and scattering, optical depth and aerosol inorganic and organic composition, among other properties. The central Amazonia site (TT34) showed low aerosol concentrations (PM2.5 of 1.3 ± 0.7 μg m−3 and 3.4 ± 2.0 μg m−3 in the wet and dry seasons, respectively), with a median particle number concentration of 220 cm−3 in the wet season and 2200 cm−3 in the dry season. At the impacted site (PVH), aerosol loadings were one order of magnitude higher (PM2.5 of 10.2 ± 9.0 μg m−3 and 33.0 ± 36.0 μg m−3 in the wet and dry seasons, respectively). The aerosol number concentration at the impacted site ranged from 680 cm−3 in the wet season up to 20 000 cm−3 in the dry season. An aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ACSM) was deployed in 2013 at both sites, and it shows that organic aerosol account to 81% to the non-refractory PM1 aerosol loading at TT34, while biomass burning aerosols at PVH shows a 93% content of organic particles. Three years of filter-based elemental composition measurements shows that sulphate at the impacted site decreases, on average, from 12% of PM2.5 mass during the wet season to 5% in the dry season. This result corroborates the ACSM finding that the biomass burning contributed overwhelmingly to the organic fine mode aerosol during the dry season in this region. Aerosol light scattering and absorption coefficients at the TT34 site were low during the wet season, increasing by a factor of 5, approximately, in the dry season due to long range transport of biomass burning aerosols reaching the forest site in the dry season. Aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA) ranged from 0.84 in the wet season up to 0.91 in the dry. At the PVH site, aerosol scattering coefficients were 3–5 times higher in comparison to the TT34 site, an indication of strong regional background pollution, even in the wet season. Aerosol absorption coefficients at PVH were about 1.4 times higher than at the forest site. Ground-based SSA at PVH was around 0.92 year round, showing the dominance of scattering aerosol particles over absorption, even for biomass burning aerosols. Remote sensing observations from six AERONET sites and from MODIS since 1999, provide a regional and temporal overview. Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) at 550 nm of less than 0.1 is characteristic of natural conditions over Amazonia. At the perturbed PVH site, AOD550 values greater than 4 were frequently observed in the dry season. Combined analysis of MODIS and CERES showed that the mean direct radiative forcing of aerosols at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) during the biomass burning season was −5.6 ± 1.7 W m−2, averaged over whole Amazon Basin. For high AOD (larger than 1) the maximum daily direct aerosol radiative forcing at the TOA was as high as −20 W m−2 locally. This change in the radiation balance caused increases in the diffuse radiation flux, with an increase of Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) of 18–29% for high AOD. From this analysis, it is clear that land use change in Amazonia shows alterations of many atmospheric properties, and these changes are affecting the functioning of the Amazonian ecosystem in significant ways.
181 citations
TL;DR: It is found that both packing and protein crowding have a profound effect on lateral diffusion, slowing it down and suggesting that protein concentration is anything but constant in the plane of cell membranes.
Abstract: Lateral diffusion plays a crucial role in numerous processes that take place in cell membranes, yet it is quite poorly understood in native membranes characterized by, e.g., domain formation and large concentration of proteins. In this article, we use atomistic and coarse-grained simulations to consider how packing of membranes and crowding with proteins affect the lateral dynamics of lipids and membrane proteins. We find that both packing and protein crowding have a profound effect on lateral diffusion, slowing it down. Anomalous diffusion is observed to be an inherent property in both protein-free and protein-rich membranes, and the time scales of anomalous diffusion and the exponent associated with anomalous diffusion are found to strongly depend on packing and crowding. Crowding with proteins also has a striking effect on the decay rate of dynamical correlations associated with lateral single-particle motion, as the transition from anomalous to normal diffusion is found to take place at macroscopic time scales: while in protein-poor conditions normal diffusion is typically observed in hundreds of nanoseconds, in protein-rich conditions the onset of normal diffusion is tens of microseconds, and in the most crowded systems as large as milliseconds. The computational challenge which results from these time scales is not easy to deal with, not even in coarse-grained simulations. We also briefly discuss the physical limits of protein motion. Our results suggest that protein concentration is anything but constant in the plane of cell membranes. Instead, it is strongly dependent on proteins' preference for aggregation.
180 citations
TL;DR: Calorimetric measurements of metal vapor adsorption energies onto clean oxide surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum show that the chemical potential increases with decreasing particle size below 6 nm, and, for a given size, decreases with the adhesion energy between the metal and its support, Eadh.
Abstract: Many catalysts consist of metal nanoparticles anchored to the surfaces of oxide supports. These are key elements in technologies for the clean production and use of fuels and chemicals. We show here that the chemical reactivity of the surface metal atoms on these nanoparticles is closely related to their chemical potential: the higher their chemical potential, the more strongly they bond to small adsorbates. Controlling their chemical potential by tuning the structural details of the material can thus be used to tune their reactivity. As their chemical potential increases, this also makes the metal surface less noble, effectively pushing its behavior upwards and to the left in the periodic table. Also, when the metal atoms are in a nanoparticle with higher chemical potential, they experience a larger thermodynamic driving force to sinter. Calorimetric measurements of metal vapor adsorption energies onto clean oxide surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum show that the chemical potential increases with decreasing particle size below 6 nm, and, for a given size, decreases with the adhesion energy between the metal and its support, Eadh. The structural factors that control the metal/oxide adhesion energy are thus also keys for tuning catalytic performance. For a given oxide, Eadh increases with (ΔHsub,M − ΔHf,MOx)/ΩM2/3 for the metal, where ΔHsub,M is its heat of sublimation, ΔHf,MOx is the standard heat of formation of that metal's most stable oxide (per mole of metal), and ΩM is the atomic volume of the bulk solid metal. The value ΔHsub,M − ΔHf,MOx equals the heat of formation of that metal's oxide from a gaseous metal atom plus O2(g), so it reflects the strength of the chemical bonds which that metal atom can make to oxygen, and ΩM2/3 simply normalizes this energy to the area per metal atom, since Eadh is the adhesion energy per unit area. For a given metal, Eadh to different clean oxide surfaces increases as: MgO(100) ≈ TiO2(110) ≤ α-Al2O3(0001) < CeO2−x(111) ≤ Fe3O4(111). Oxygen vacancies also increase Eadh, but surface hydroxyl groups appear to decrease Eadh, even though they increase the initial heat of metal adsorption.
157 citations
TL;DR: This introductory lecture first critically reviews differences in reported numerical values of the bending modulus K(C), which is a central property for the biologically important flexibility of membranes.
Abstract: One of the many aspects of membrane biophysics dealt with in this Faraday Discussion regards the material moduli that describe energies at a supramolecular level. This introductory lecture first critically reviews differences in reported numerical values of the bending modulus KC, which is a central property for the biologically important flexibility of membranes. It is speculated that there may be a reason that the shape analysis method tends to give larger values of KC than the micromechanical manipulation method or the more recent X-ray method that agree very well with each other. Another theme of membrane biophysics is the use of simulations to provide exquisite detail of structures and processes. This lecture critically reviews the application of atomic level simulations to the quantitative structure of simple single component lipid bilayers and diagnostics are introduced to evaluate simulations. Another theme of this Faraday Discussion was lateral heterogeneity in biomembranes with many different lipids. Coarse grained simulations and analytical theories promise to synergistically enhance experimental studies when their interaction parameters are tuned to agree with experimental data, such as the slopes of experimental tie lines in ternary phase diagrams. Finally, attention is called to contributions that add relevant biological molecules to bilayers and to contributions that study the exciting shape changes and different non-bilayer structures with different lipids.
148 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that STED-FCS in combination with a Lo-partitioning fluorescent lipid analogue can directly probe the presence of Lo nano-domains, which in the future should allow the study of potential lipid rafts in live-cell membranes.
Abstract: We have developed a bright, photostable, and far-red emitting fluorescent phosphoglycerolipid analogue to probe diffusion characteristics of lipids in membranes. The lipid analogue consists of a saturated (C18) phosphoethanolamine and a hydrophilic far-red emitting fluorescent dye (KK114) that is tethered to the head group by a long polyethylenglycol linker. In contrast to reported far-red emitting fluorescent lipid analogues, this one partitions predominantly into liquid ordered domains of phase-separated ternary bilayers. We performed fluorescence correlation spectroscopy with a super-resolution STED microscope (STED-FCS) to measure the lateral diffusion of the new lipid analogue in the liquid ordered (Lo) and disordered (Ld) phase. On a mica support, we observed micrometer large phases and found that the lipid analogue diffuses freely on all tested spatial scales (40-250 nm) in both the Ld and Lo phase with diffusion coefficients of 1.8 microm2 s(-1) and 0.7 microm2 s(-1) respectively. This indicates that the tight molecular packing of the Lo phase mainly slows down the diffusion rather than causing anomalous sub-diffusion. The same ternary mixture deposited on acid-cleaned glass forms Lo nanodomains of < 40 nm to 300 nm in diameter as only revealed by STED microscopy, which demonstrates the severe influence of interactions with the substrate on the sizes of domains in membranes. When averaging over different positions, STEd-FCS measurements on such glass supported membranes displayed anomalous sub-diffusion. This anomaly can be attributed to a transient partitioning of the lipid analogue into the nano-domains, where diffusion is slowed down. Our results suggest that STED-FCS in combination with a Lo-partitioning fluorescent lipid analogue can directly probe the presence of Lo nano-domains, which in the future should allow the study of potential lipid rafts in live-cell membranes.
137 citations
TL;DR: Results clearly indicate that slow diffusion of reactants through SOA coats under specific conditions can provide shielding from gas-phase oxidants, enabling the long-range atmospheric transport of toxic trace species, such as PAHs and persistent organic pollutants.
Abstract: The potential for aerosol physical properties, such as phase, morphology and viscosity/diffusivity, to affect particle reactivity remains highly uncertain. We report here a study of the effect of bulk diffusivity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) on the kinetics of the heterogeneous reaction of particle-borne benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) with ozone. The experiments were performed by coating BaP-ammonium sulfate particles with multilayers of SOA formed from ozonolysis of α-pinene, and by subsequently investigating the kinetics of BaP loss via reaction with excess ozone using an aerosol flow tube coupled to an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS). All reactions exhibit pseudo-first order kinetics and are empirically well described by a Langmuir–Hinshelwood (L-H) mechanism. The results show that under dry conditions (RH 1 × 10^(−12) for dry (RH < 5%), 50% RH and 70% RH conditions, respectively. These results clearly indicate that slow diffusion of reactants through SOA coats under specific conditions can provide shielding from gas-phase oxidants, enabling the long-range atmospheric transport of toxic trace species, such as PAHs and persistent organic pollutants.
132 citations
TL;DR: In order to induce lasting nanopores in lipid bilayers -10 nm diameter, they initially require the presence (from the solid phase structure) of grain boundary defects at the DPPC transition and the permeabilizing component(s) can either be a pore forming lysolipid/surfactant plus a PEG-lipid, or can be generated by a PEL incorporated at -4-5 mol%.
Abstract: This paper describes how we have used material science, physical chemistry, and some luck, to design a new thermal-sensitive liposome (the low temperature sensitive liposome (LTSL)) that responds at clinically attainable hyperthermic temperatures releasing its drug in a matter of seconds as it passes through the microvasculature of a warmed tumor. The LTSL is composed of a judicial combination of three component lipids, each with a specific function and each affecting specific material properties, including a sharp thermal transition and a rapid on-set of membrane permeability to small ions, drugs and small dextran polymers. Experimentally, the paper describes how bilayer-concentration changes involving the lysolipid and the presence or absence of DSPE-PEG2000 affect both the lipid transition temperature and the drug release. While the inclusion of 4 mol% DSPE-PEG2000 raises the transition temperature peak (T(m)) by about 1 degrees C, the inclusion of 5.0, 9.7, 12.7 and 18.0 mol% MSPC slightly lowered this peak back to 41.7 degrees C, while not further broadening the peak breadth. As for drug release, in the absence of MSPC, the encapsulated doxorubicin-citrate is hardly released at all. Increasing the composition of MSPC in the lipid mixture (5.0, 7.4, 8.5 and 9.3 mol% MSPC) shows faster and faster initial doxorubicin release rates, with 8.5 and 9.3 mol% MSPC formulations giving 80% of encapsulated drug released in 4 and 3 min, respectively. The Thermodox formulation (9.7 mol% MSPC) gives 60% released in the first 20 s. The presence of PEG-lipid is found to be essential in order for the lysolipid-induced permeability to reach these very fast times. From drug and dextran release experiments, and estimates of the molecular and pore size, the conclusions are that: in order to induce lasting nanopores in lipid bilayers -10 nm diameter, they initially require the presence (from the solid phase structure) of grain boundary defects at the DPPC transition and the permeabilizing component(s) can either be a pore forming lysolipid/surfactant plus a PEG-lipid, or can be generated by a PEG-surfactant incorporated at -4-5 mol%. The final discussion is centered around the postulated defect structures that result in membrane leakage and the permeability of doxorubicin and H+ ions.
122 citations
TL;DR: The analysis corroborates and quantifies previous proposals that the Hofmeister anion and cation series for biopolymer processes are determined by ion-specific, mostly unfavorable interactions with hydrocarbon surfaces.
Abstract: Understanding how Hofmeister salt ions and other solutes interact with proteins, nucleic acids, other biopolymers and water and thereby affect protein and nucleic acid processes as well as model processes (e.g. solubility of model compounds) in aqueous solution is a longstanding goal of biophysical research. Empirical Hofmeister salt and solute “m-values” (derivatives of the observed standard free energy change for a model or biopolymer process with respect to solute or salt concentration m3) are equal to differences in chemical potential derivatives: m-value = Δ(dμ2/dm3) = Δμ23, which quantify the preferential interactions of the solute or salt with the surface of the biopolymer or model system (component 2) exposed or buried in the process. Using the solute partitioning model (SPM), we dissect μ23 values for interactions of a solute or Hofmeister salt with a set of model compounds displaying the key functional groups of biopolymers to obtain interaction potentials (called α-values) that quantify the interaction of the solute or salt per unit area of each functional group or type of surface. Interpreted using the SPM, these α-values provide quantitative information about both the hydration of functional groups and the competitive interaction of water and the solute or salt with functional groups. The analysis corroborates and quantifies previous proposals that the Hofmeister anion and cation series for biopolymer processes are determined by ion-specific, mostly unfavorable interactions with hydrocarbon surfaces; the balance between these unfavorable nonpolar interactions and often-favorable interactions of ions with polar functional groups determine the series null points. The placement of urea and glycine betaine (GB) at opposite ends of the corresponding series of nonelectrolytes results from the favorable interactions of urea, and unfavorable interactions of GB, with many (but not all) biopolymer functional groups. Interaction potentials and local-bulk partition coefficients quantifying the distribution of solutes (e.g. urea, glycine betaine) and Hofmeister salt ions in the vicinity of each functional group make good chemical sense when interpreted in terms of competitive noncovalent interactions. These interaction potentials allow solute and Hofmeister (noncoulombic) salt effects on protein and nucleic acid processes to be interpreted or predicted, and allow the use of solutes and salts as probes of interface formation and large-scale conformational changes in the steps of a biopolymer mechanism.
107 citations
TL;DR: The sodium-chloride potential of mean force in solution calculated from the empirically-adjusted model is consistent with the results from that calculated from ab initio CPMD simulations.
Abstract: The accuracy of empirical force fields is critical for meaningful molecular dynamics simulations of concentrated ionic solutions. Current models are typically developed on the basis of single ion properties such as the monohydrate energy in the gas phase, or the absolute hydration free energy at infinite dilution. However, the failure of these models to represent accurately the properties of concentrated solutions cannot be excluded. Here, these issues are illustrated for a polarizable potential based on classical Drude oscillators. To model accurately concentrated ionic solutions, the parameters of the potential functions are optimized to reproduce osmotic pressure data. The sodium-chloride potential of mean force in solution calculated from the empirically-adjusted model is consistent with the results from that calculated from ab initio CPMD simulations.
105 citations
TL;DR: The steady-state saturation ratios and absolute concentrations of extremely low volatility products are sufficient to drive new-particle formation with sulphuric acid at atmospherically relevant rates.
Abstract: Highly oxidised organic vapors can effectively stabilize sulphuric acid in heteronuclear clusters and drive new-particle formation. We present quantum chemical calculations of cluster stability, showing that multifunctional species can stabilize sulphuric acid and also present additional polar functional groups for subsequent cluster growth. We also model the multi-generation oxidation of vapors associated with secondary organic aerosol formation using a two-dimensional volatility basis set. The steady-state saturation ratios and absolute concentrations of extremely low volatility products are sufficient to drive new-particle formation with sulphuric acid at atmospherically relevant rates.
TL;DR: It is shown that WT-MetaD can be used to study the finite-size scaling behaviour of the free energy barrier separating the two liquids for systems containing 192, 300 and 400 ST2 molecules, and that larger systems must be examined to provide conclusive evidence of a first-order phase transition and associated second critical point.
Abstract: We investigate the metastable phase behaviour of the ST2 water model under deeply supercooled conditions. The phase behaviour is examined using umbrella sampling (US) and well-tempered metadynamics (WT-MetaD) simulations to compute the reversible free energy surface parameterized by density and bond-orientation order. We find that free energy surfaces computed with both techniques clearly show two liquid phases in coexistence, in agreement with our earlier US and grand canonical Monte Carlo calculations [Y. Liu, J. C. Palmer, A. Z. Panagiotopoulos and P. G. Debenedetti, J Chem Phys, 2012, 137, 214505; Y. Liu, A. Z. Panagiotopoulos and P. G. Debenedetti, J Chem Phys, 2009, 131, 104508]. While we demonstrate that US and WT-MetaD produce consistent results, the latter technique is estimated to be more computationally efficient by an order of magnitude. As a result, we show that WT-MetaD can be used to study the finite-size scaling behaviour of the free energy barrier separating the two liquids for systems containing 192, 300 and 400 ST2 molecules. Although our results are consistent with the expected N2/3 scaling law, we conclude that larger systems must be examined to provide conclusive evidence of a first-order phase transition and associated second critical point.
TL;DR: The a(w) based immersion freezing model (ABIFM) can be applied over the entire range of T, RH, total particulate surface area, and cloud activation timescales typical of atmospheric conditions and can be used to derive frozen fractions of droplets and ice particle production for atmospheric models of cirrus and mixed phase cloud conditions.
Abstract: Immersion freezing of water and aqueous solutions by particles acting as ice nuclei (IN) is a common process of heterogeneous ice nucleation which occurs in many environments, especially in the atmosphere where it results in the glaciation of clouds. Here we experimentally show, using a variety of IN types suspended in various aqueous solutions, that immersion freezing temperatures and kinetics can be described solely by temperature, T, and solution water activity, aw, which is the ratio of the vapour pressure of the solution and the saturation water vapour pressure under the same conditions and, in equilibrium, equivalent to relative humidity (RH). This allows the freezing point and corresponding heterogeneous ice nucleation rate coefficient, Jhet, to be uniquely expressed by T and aw, a result we term the aw based immersion freezing model (ABIFM). This method is independent of the nature of the solute and accounts for several varying parameters, including cooling rate and IN surface area, while providing a holistic description of immersion freezing and allowing prediction of freezing temperatures, Jhet, frozen fractions, ice particle production rates and numbers. Our findings are based on experimental freezing data collected for various IN surface areas, A, and cooling rates, r, of droplets variously containing marine biogenic material, two soil humic acids, four mineral dusts, and one organic monolayer acting as IN. For all investigated IN types we demonstrate that droplet freezing temperatures increase as A increases. Similarly, droplet freezing temperatures increase as the cooling rate decreases. The log10(Jhet) values for the various IN types derived exclusively by T and aw, provide a complete description of the heterogeneous ice nucleation kinetics. Thus, the ABIFM can be applied over the entire range of T, RH, total particulate surface area, and cloud activation timescales typical of atmospheric conditions. Lastly, we demonstrate that ABIFM can be used to derive frozen fractions of droplets and ice particle production for atmospheric models of cirrus and mixed phase cloud conditions.
TL;DR: This study shows that sulfate radical-induced oxidation in the aqueous particle phase provides a reasonable explanation for the formation of these organosulfates from methacrolein and methyl vinyl ketone.
Abstract: Recent studies show that isoprene-derived organosulfates are an important fraction of ambient secondary organic aerosol (SOA), adding up to 20% to the organic mass. Organosulfates with m/z of 199 and 183 relating to C4 compounds are found in ambient and laboratory generated SOA and a sulfate radical induced oxidation of methacrolein (MACR) and methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) has been shown to be a possible formation mechanism. In the present study, experiments on the sulfate radical-induced oxidation of methacrolein and methyl vinyl ketone were performed in bulk aqueous phase, as well as in an aerosol chamber, and finally compared with ambient PM10 samples collected at a rural East German village during the summer 2008, to investigate their relevance in aqueous phase SOA formation. Samples from aqueous phase experiments and extracts from filters were analysed with UPLC/(−)ESI-IMS-QTOFMS. All the samples showed the abundance of highly oxidised organosulfates with m/z 153, 155, 167, 183 and 199 corresponding to the species found in ambient particle samples. In the bulk phase studies with laser-induced sulfate radical formation, the signal intensities increased with increasing number of laser pulses, indicating the sulfate radical-induced formation of these organosulfates. Additionally, the chamber experiments showed a particle mass growth of about 10 μg m−3 and 4 μg m−3 for experiments on the reactive uptake of MACR and MVK with a sulfate radical precursor (K2S2O8) in the seed particles. Correlations of the C2 to C5 organosulfate species (including the m/z 215, C5H11O7S−), detected in the ambient samples were found to be very strong (r > 0.8), indicating that these compounds are formed from similar mechanisms and under equal environmental conditions. This study shows that sulfate radical-induced oxidation in the aqueous particle phase provides a reasonable explanation for the formation of these organosulfates from methacrolein and methyl vinyl ketone.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the effect of Criegees on atmospheric chemistry, and demonstrate that ozonolysis of alkenes via the reaction of carbonyl oxides potentially has a large impact on atmospheric sulphuric acid concentrations and consequently the first steps in aerosol production.
Abstract: Carbonyl oxides (“Criegee intermediates”), formed in the ozonolysis of alkenes, are key species in tropospheric oxidation of organic molecules and their decomposition provides a non-photolytic source of OH in the atmosphere (Johnson and Marston, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2008, 37, 699, Harrison et al., Sci. Total Environ., 2006, 360, 5, Gab et al., Nature, 1985, 316, 535, ). Recently it was shown that small Criegee intermediates, C.I.’s, react far more rapidly with SO2 than typically represented in tropospheric models, (Welz, Science, 2012, 335, 204, ) which suggested that carbonyl oxides could have a substantial influence on the atmospheric oxidation of SO2. Oxidation of SO2 is the main atmospheric source of sulphuric acid (H2SO4), which is a critical contributor to aerosol formation, although questions remain about the fundamental nucleation mechanism (Sipila et al., Science, 2010, 327, 1243, Metzger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2010 107, 6646, Kirkby et al., Nature, 2011, 476, 429, ). Non-absorbing atmospheric aerosols, by scattering incoming solar radiation and acting as cloud condensation nuclei, have a cooling effect on climate (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis, Cambridge University Press, 2007, ). Here we explore the effect of the Criegees on atmospheric chemistry, and demonstrate that ozonolysis of alkenes via the reaction of Criegee intermediates potentially has a large impact on atmospheric sulphuric acid concentrations and consequently the first steps in aerosol production. Reactions of Criegee intermediates with SO2 will compete with and in places dominate over the reaction of OH with SO2 (the only other known gas-phase source of H2SO4) in many areas of the Earth's surface. In the case that the products of Criegee intermediate reactions predominantly result in H2SO4 formation, modelled particle nucleation rates can be substantially increased by the improved experimentally obtained estimates of the rate coefficients of Criegee intermediate reactions. Using both regional and global scale modelling, we show that this enhancement is likely to be highly variable spatially with local hot-spots in e.g. urban outflows. This conclusion is however contingent on a number of remaining uncertainties in Criegee intermediate chemistry.
TL;DR: Ab initio simulations for both one- and two-electron systems are presented which allow the determination of both absolute and relative time delays with -1 attosecond precision and show that the intrinsic time shift of the photoionization process encoded in the Eisenbud-Wigner-Smith delay time can be unambiguously disentangled from measurement-induced time delays in a pump-probe setting.
Abstract: The interaction of laser pulses of sub-femtosecond duration with matter opened up the opportunity to explore electronic processes on their natural time scale. One central conceptual question posed by the observation of photoemission in real time is whether the ejection of the photoelectron wavepacket occurs instantaneously, or whether the response time to photoabsorption is finite leading to a time delay in photoemission. Recent experimental progress exploring attosecond streaking and RABBIT techniques find relative time delays between the photoemission from different atomic substates to be of the order of ∼20 attoseconds. We present ab initio simulations for both one- and two-electron systems which allow the determination of both absolute and relative time delays with ∼1 attosecond precision. We show that the intrinsic time shift of the photoionization process encoded in the Eisenbud–Wigner–Smith delay time can be unambiguously disentangled from measurement-induced time delays in a pump-probe setting when the photoionized electronic wavepacket is probed by a modestly strong infrared streaking field. We identify distinct contributions due to initial-state polarization, Coulomb-laser coupling in the final continuum state as well as final-state interaction with the entangled residual ionic state. Extensions to multi-electron systems and to the extraction of time information in the presence of decohering processes are discussed.
TL;DR: The evolution of the structure and composition of shape-selected octahedral PtNi nanoparticles (NPs) in response to chemical and electrochemical environments was studied, and the affinity to water and the oxophilicity of Ni hydroxides are proposed as likely origin of the observed effects.
Abstract: Solid surfaces generally respond sensitively to their environment. Gas phase or liquid phase species may adsorb and react with individual surface atoms altering the solid-gas and solid-liquid electronic and chemical properties of the interface. A comprehensive understanding of chemical and electrochemical interfaces with respect to their responses to external stimuli is still missing. The evolution of the structure and composition of shape-selected octahedral PtNi nanoparticles (NPs) in response to chemical (gas-phase) and electrochemical (liquid-phase) environments was studied, and contrasted to that of pure Pt and spherical PtNi NPs. The NPs were exposed to thermal annealing in hydrogen, oxygen, and vacuum, and the resulting NP surface composition was analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In gaseous environments, the presence of O2 during annealing (300 °C) lead to a strong segregation of Ni species to the NP surface, the formation of NiO, and a Pt-rich NP core, while a similar treatment in H2 lead to a more homogenous Pt-Ni alloy core, and a thinner NiO shell. Further, the initial presence of NiO species on the as-prepared samples was found to influence the atomic segregation trends upon low temperature annealing (300 °C). This is due to the fact that at this temperature nickel is only partially reduced, and NiO favors surface segregation. The effect of electrochemical cycling in acid and alkaline electrolytes on the structure and composition of the octahedral PtNi NPs was monitored using image-corrected high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-angle annular dark field scanning TEM (HAADF-STEM). Sample pretreatments in surface active oxygenates, such as oxygen and hydroxide anions, resulted in oxygen-enriched Ni surfaces (Ni oxides and/or hydroxides). Acid treatments were found to strongly reduce the content of Ni species on the NP surface, via its dissolution in the electrolyte, leading to a Pt-skeleton structure, with a thick Pt shell and a Pt-Ni core. The presence of Ni hydroxides on the NP surface was shown to improve the kinetics of the electrooxidation of CO and the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reactions. The affinity to water and the oxophilicity of Ni hydroxides are proposed as likely origin of the observed effects.
TL;DR: Large-scale molecular simulations are used to elucidate the relationship between the structure, thermodynamics, and ice crystallization temperatures for solutions of mW water and a strongly hydrophilic solute that mimics LiCI ions.
Abstract: Predicting the temperature and extent of ice freezing in aqueous solutions is crucial for areas as diverse as cryobiology and materials design. It has long been recognized that the thermodynamics of liquid water controls the temperature and kinetics of ice crystallization. Parameterizations of the freezing temperatures in terms of the water activity of the solution have been successfully established, but the fundamental origin of the thermodynamic control of the non-equilibrium crystallization of ice has remained elusive. Here we use large-scale molecular simulations to elucidate the relationship between the structure, thermodynamics, and ice crystallization temperatures for solutions of mW water and a strongly hydrophilic solute that mimics LiCl ions. Fast cooling of solutions with up to 20 mol% ions results in the formation of nanosegregated glasses with domains of low-density amorphous ice and an ion-rich vitrified solution. Slow cooling of the mixtures results in nucleation and growth of ice within the domains of four-coordinated liquid water. The temperature of crystallization TX coincides with the temperature of appearance of nanoscopic domains of four-coordinated liquid water in the mixture, TL. We use the insight provided by the simulations to derive a thermodynamic expression for the crystallization temperature as a function of the water activity, TX(aW), analogous to the dependence of the melting temperature, Tm(aW). The simple expression derived in this work provides a good account of the experimental freezing temperatures of water and the well-known steepest dependence of TX on solute concentration compared to that of Tm.
TL;DR: This discrepancy in the Gaussian curvature modulus kappa of a systematically coarse-grained one-component lipid membrane suggests that the moment conditions derived from simple continuum assumptions miss the effect of physically important correlations in the lipid bilayer.
Abstract: We calculate the Gaussian curvature modulus of a systematically coarse-grained (CG) one-component lipid membrane by applying the method recently proposed by Hu et al. [Biophys. J., 2012, 102, 1403] to the MARTINI representation of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC). We find the value /κ = −1.04 ± 0.03 for the elastic ratio between the Gaussian and the mean curvature modulus and deduce m/κm ≈ −0.98 ± 0.09 for the monolayer elastic ratio, where the latter is based on plausible assumptions for the distance z0 of the monolayer neutral surface from the bilayer midplane and the spontaneous lipid curvature K0m. By also analyzing the lateral stress profile σ0(z) of our system, two other lipid types and pertinent data from the literature, we show that determining K0m and through the first and second moment of σ0(z) gives rise to physically implausible values for these observables. This discrepancy, which we previously observed for a much simpler CG model, suggests that the moment conditions derived from simple continuum assumptions miss the effect of physically important correlations in the lipid bilayer.
TL;DR: The findings from this work suggest that heterogeneous ice nucleating agents may not only enhance the ice nucleation rate, but also alter the macroscopic structure of the ice crystals that form.
Abstract: It is surprisingly difficult to freeze water. Almost all ice that forms under “mild” conditions (temperatures > −40 °C) requires the presence of a nucleating agent – a solid particle that facilitates the freezing process – such as clay mineral dust, soot or bacteria. In a computer simulation, the presence of such ice nucleating agents does not necessarily alleviate the difficulties associated with forming ice on accessible timescales. Nevertheless, in this work we present results from molecular dynamics simulations in which we systematically compare homogeneous and heterogeneous ice nucleation, using the atmospherically important clay mineral kaolinite as our model ice nucleating agent. From our simulations, we do indeed find that kaolinite is an excellent ice nucleating agent but that contrary to conventional thought, non-basal faces of ice can nucleate at the basal face of kaolinite. We see that in the liquid phase, the kaolinite surface has a drastic effect on the density profile of water, with water forming a dense, tightly bound first contact layer. Monitoring the time evolution of the water density reveals that changes away from the interface may play an important role in the nucleation mechanism. The findings from this work suggest that heterogeneous ice nucleating agents may not only enhance the ice nucleation rate, but also alter the macroscopic structure of the ice crystals that form.
TL;DR: My aim is to provide some additional background, a kind of classroom ‘‘tutorial’’, regarding important mechanical and thermodynamic features of vesicle bilayers, lore established over the past two decades since Discussion 81, and highlight some new directions in the biophysics of membranes suggested by these insights.
Abstract: To some extent, Faraday Discussion 161 on Lipids andMembrane Biophysics is an off spring of the earlier Faraday Discussion 81 on Lipid Vesicles and Membranes in 1986, as brought to our attention by John Nagle in his Introductory Lecture. Yet, in my view, Discussion 161 has been far more polished in its content—revealing novel materials and challenging experiments, new instrumentation and computational methods—with very well organized presentations (plus posters). Personally, I was wowed by every 5 min abstract of a paper—all were succinct and each set the stage for a well balanced 25 min period of discussion. On the other hand, with the notable exception of an excellent Introductory Lecture and within the caveat of my failing memory, it seemed to me that there was less focus on the underlying physics of membranes than in Discussion 81. At the same time, there was more attention, in my opinion, than needed to the parochial issue of ‘‘raft–lipid membranes’’. Also, I was left with an uncertain feeling about whether coarse-graining in molecular-scale simulations will manage (in my lifetime) to completely fulfil its agonizing quest for ‘‘material reality’’. Beyond this hubris, I feel unqualified to pick and choose amongst the 24 excellent Discussion papers to praise or criticize. Instead, the objective of my Concluding remarks will be to expand on/add to the membrane biophysics emphasized in John Nagle’s Introductory Lecture which, although well appreciated by the ‘‘old guard’’, was perhaps too esoteric for many of the bright ‘‘new comers’’ to the subject. In particular, my aim is to provide some additional background, a kind of classroom ‘‘tutorial’’, regarding important mechanical and thermodynamic features of vesicle bilayers, lore established over the past two decades since Discussion 81. At the same time, I want to highlight some new directions in the biophysics of membranes suggested by these insights. My intent is not to give a balanced review of the literature. Rather, I have chosen references that have played seminal roles in the developments I will describe. I dedicate this paper to our dear friend Myer Bloom, soon to be 84 years of age (07/12/2012)—ever bright in mind, even though encumbered by Parkinson’s disease. Also, I want to express my sincere thanks to the Organizing Committee for the opportunity to participate in Faraday Discussion 161 and for the hospitality shown by their wonderful RSC associates. Evan Evans
TL;DR: The core-shell morphology is considered to be the prevalent configuration of liquid-liquid-phase-separated tropospheric organic/AS/H2O particles.
Abstract: Despite major progress in the understanding of properties of tropospheric aerosol particles, it remains challenging to understand their physical state and morphology. To obtain more detailed knowledge of the phases, phase transitions and morphologies of internally mixed organic/inorganic aerosol particles, we evaluated liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS), deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) and efflorescence relative humidity (ERH) of 33 organic/ammonium sulfate (AS)/H2O systems from our own and literature data. The organic fraction consists of single compounds or mixtures with up to ten aliphatic and/or aromatic components with carboxylic acid, hydroxyl, carbonyl, ether, and ester functionalities, covering O : C ratios between 0.29 and 1.33. Thirteen out of these 33 systems did not show LLPS for any of the studied organic-to-inorganic mixing ratios, sixteen underwent LLPS showing core–shell morphology, and four showed both core–shell and partially engulfed configurations depending on the organic-to-inorganic ratio and RH. In all cases the organic fractions of the systems with partially engulfed configurations consisted of dicarboxylic acids. AS in mixed organic/AS/H2O particles deliquesced between 70 and 84% RH. AS effloresced below 58% RH or remained in a one-liquid-phase state. AS in droplets with LLPS always showed efflorescence with ERH between 30 and 50% RH, providing clear evidence that the presence of LLPS facilitates AS efflorescence. Spreading coefficients of the organic-rich phase on the AS-rich phase for systems containing polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG-400) and a mixture of dicarboxylic acids are in agreement with the optically observed morphologies of droplets deposited on the hydrophobic substrate. Analysis of high resolution elastic Mie resonance spectra allowed the detection of LLPS for single levitated droplets consisting of PEG-400/AS/H2O, whereas LLPS was difficult to detect in (2-methylglutaric acid + 3-methylglutaric acid + 2,2-dimethylsuccinic acid)/AS/H2O. Measured Mie spectra of PEG-400/AS/H2O at 93.5% and at 80.9% RH agreed with computed Mie spectra for a homogeneous and a core–shell configuration, respectively, confirming the results obtained from droplets deposited on a hydrophobic substrate. Based on the presented evidence, we therefore consider the core–shell morphology to be the prevalent configuration of liquid–liquid-phase-separated tropospheric organic/AS/H2O particles.
TL;DR: Molecular-level investigations of the reactive compound ketolimononaldehyde are presented, demonstrating the high degree of selectivity of organic compound structures on the light-absorbing properties of SOA.
Abstract: Sources and chemical composition of brown carbon are poorly understood, and even less is known about the mechanisms of its atmospheric transformations. This work presents molecular-level investigations of the reactive compound ketolimononaldehyde (KLA, C9H14O3), a second-generation ozonolysis product of limonene (C10H16), as a potent brown carbon precursor in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) through its reactions with reduced nitrogen compounds, such as ammonium ion (NH4+), ammonia, and amino acids. The reactions of synthesized and purified KLA with NH4+ and glycine resulted in the formation of chromophores nearly identical in spectral properties and formation rates to those found in similarly-aged limonene/O3 SOA. Similar chemical reaction processes of limononaldehyde (LA, C10H16O2) and pinonaldehyde (PA, C10H16O2), the first-generation ozonolysis products of limonene and α-pinene, respectively, were also studied, but the resulting products did not exhibit the light absorption properties of brown carbon, suggesting that the unique molecular structure of KLA produces visible-light-absorbing compounds. The KLA/NH4+ and KLA/GLY reactions produce water-soluble, hydrolysis-resilient chromophores with high mass absorption coefficients (MAC = 2000–4000 cm2 g−1) at λ ∼ 500 nm, precisely at the maximum of the solar emission spectrum. Liquid chromatography was used to isolate the light-absorbing fraction, and UV-Vis, FTIR, NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) techniques were used to investigate the structures and chemical properties of the light-absorbing compounds. The KLA browning reaction generates a diverse mixture of light-absorbing compounds, with the majority of the observable products containing 1–4 units of KLA and 0–2 nitrogen atoms. Based on the HR-MS product distribution, conjugated aldol condensates, secondary imines (Schiff bases), and N-heterocycles like pyrroles may contribute in varying degree to the light-absorbing properties of the KLA brown carbon. The results of this study demonstrate the high degree of selectivity of organic compound structures on the light-absorbing properties of SOA.
TL;DR: It is shown that stable mesoscale inhomogeneities occur in aqueous solutions of nonionic hydrotropes only when the solution contains a third, more hydrophobic, component, which may have important practical applications in areas, such as drug delivery, where the replacement of traditional surfactants may be necessary.
Abstract: Small amphiphilic molecules, also known as hydrotropes, are too small to form micelles in aqueous solutions. However, aqueous solutions of nonionic hydrotropes show the presence of a dynamic, loose, non-covalent clustering in the water-rich region. This clustering can be viewed as “micelle-like structural fluctuations”. Although these fluctuations are short ranged (∼1 nm) and short lived (10 ps–50 ps), they may lead to thermodynamic anomalies. In addition, many experiments on aqueous solutions of hydrotropes show the occasional presence of mesoscale (∼100 nm) inhomogeneities. We have combined results obtained from molecular dynamics simulations, small-angle neutron scattering, and dynamic light-scattering experiments carried out on tertiary butyl alcohol (hydrotrope)–water solutions and on tertiary butyl alcohol–water–cyclohexane (hydrophobe) solutions to elucidate the nature and structure of these inhomogeneities. We have shown that stable mesoscale inhomogeneities occur in aqueous solutions of nonionic hydrotropes only when the solution contains a third, more hydrophobic, component. Moreover, these inhomogeneities exist in ternary systems only in the concentration range where structural fluctuations and thermodynamic anomalies are observed in the binary water–hydrotrope solutions. Addition of a hydrophobe seems to stabilize the water–hydrotrope structural fluctuations, and leads to the formation of larger (mesoscopic) droplets. The structure of these mesoscopic droplets is such that they have a hydrophobe-rich core, surrounded by a hydrogen-bonded shell of water and hydrotrope molecules. These droplets can be extremely long-lived, being stable for over a year. We refer to the phenomenon of formation of mesoscopic droplets in aqueous solutions of nonionic hydrotropes containing hydrophobes, as mesoscale solubilization. This phenomenon may represent a ubiquitous feature of nonionic hydrotropes that exhibit clustering in water, and may have important practical applications in areas, such as drug delivery, where the replacement of traditional surfactants may be necessary.
TL;DR: This Introductory Lecture discusses how these phenomena can be explained by local or mesoscopic ordering in a unified manner and shows that bond orientational ordering indeed plays a significant role in all the above-mentioned phenomena at least for (quasi-)single-component liquids.
Abstract: Liquids are often assumed to be homogeneous and isotropic at any lengthscale and translationally invariant. The standard liquid-state theory is constructed on the basis of this picture and thus basically described in terms of the two-body density correlation. This picture is certainly valid at rather high temperatures, where a liquid is in a highly disordered state. However, it may not necessarily be valid at low temperatures or for a system which has strong directional bonding. Indeed, there remain fundamental unsolved problems in liquid science, which are difficult to explain by such a theory. They include water's thermodynamic and kinetic anomalies, liquid–liquid transitions, liquid–glass transitions, and liquid–solid transitions. We argue that for the physical description of these phenomena it is crucial to take into account many-body (orientational) correlations, which have been overlooked in the conventional liquid-state theory. It is essential to recognise that a liquid can lower its free energy by local or mesoscopic ordering without breaking global symmetry. Since such ordering must involve at least a central particle and its neighbours, which are more than two particles, it is intrinsically a consequence of many-body correlations. Particularly important ordering is associated with local breakdown of rotational symmetry, i.e., bond orientational ordering. We emphasize that translational ordering is global whereas orientational ordering can be local. Because of the strong first-order nature of translational ordering, its growth in a liquid state is modest. Thus any structural ordering in a liquid should be associated primarily with orientational ordering and not with translational ordering. We show that bond orientational ordering indeed plays a significant role in all the above-mentioned phenomena at least for (quasi-)single-component liquids. In this Introductory Lecture, we discuss how these phenomena can be explained by such local or mesoscopic ordering in a unified manner.
TL;DR: In this article, a combination of ultrafast time-resolved ion yield and timeresolved velocity map ion imaging techniques in the gas phase was used to investigate the H-atom elimination dynamics from pyrrole.
Abstract: The heteroaromatic ultraviolet chromophore pyrrole is found as a subunit in a number of important biomolecules: it is present in heme, the non-protein component of hemoglobin, and in the amino acid tryptophan. To date there have been several experimental studies, in both the time- and frequency-domains, which have interrogated the excited state dynamics of pyrrole. In this work, we specifically aim to unravel any differences in the H-atom elimination dynamics from pyrrole across an excitation wavelength range of 250–200 nm, which encompasses: (i) direct excitation to the (formally electric dipole forbidden) 11πσ* (1A2) state; and (ii) initial photoexcitation to the higher energy 1ππ* (1B2) state. This is achieved by using a combination of ultrafast time-resolved ion yield and time-resolved velocity map ion imaging techniques in the gas phase. Following direct excitation to 11πσ* (1A2) at 250 nm, we observe a single time-constant of 126 ± 28 fs for N–H bond fission. We assign this to tunnelling out of the quasi-bound 3s Rydberg component of the 11πσ* (1A2) surface in the vertical Franck–Condon region, followed by non-adiabatic coupling through a 11πσ*/S0 conical intersection to yield pyrrolyl radicals in their electronic ground state (C4H4N()) together with H-atoms. At 238 nm, direct excitation to, and N–H dissociation along, the 11πσ* (1A2) surface is observed to occur with a time-constant of 46 ± 22 fs. Upon initial population of the 1ππ* (1B2) state at 200 nm, a rapid 1ππ* (1B2) → 11πσ* (1A2) → N–H fission process takes place within 52 ± 12 fs. In addition to ultrafast N–H bond cleavage at 200 nm, we also observe the onset of statistical unimolecular H-atom elimination from vibrationally hot S0 ground state species, formed after the relaxation of excited electronic states, with a time-constant of 1.0 ± 0.4 ns. Analogous measurements on pyrrole-d1 reveal that these statistical H-atoms are released only through C–H bond cleavage.
TL;DR: This paper presents the first approach towards assembling amphipathic three-dimensional DNA origami nanostructures and assessing their dynamics on the surface of freestanding phospholipid membranes, and reveals how DNA Origami can be employed as a valuable tool in membrane biophysics.
Abstract: Recently, DNA origami became a powerful tool for custom-shaped functional biomolecules. In this paper, we present the first approach towards assembling amphipathic three-dimensional DNA origami nanostructures and assessing their dynamics on the surface of freestanding phospholipid membranes. Our nanostructures were stiff DNA origami rods comprising six DNA helices. They were functionalized with hydrophobic cholesteryl-ethylene glycol anchors and fluorescently labeled at defined positions. Having these tools in hand, we could demonstrate not only the capability of the amphipathic nanorods to coat membranes of various phospholipid compositions, but also their switchable liquid-ordered/liquid-disordered partitioning on phase separated membranes. The observed translocation of our nanostructures between different domains was controlled by divalent ions. Moreover, selective fluorescent labeling enabled us to distinguish between the translational and rotational diffusion of our six helix bundles on the membranes by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. The obtained data reveal how DNA origami can be employed as a valuable tool in membrane biophysics.
TL;DR: Examples of one-dimensional self-assembly of peptide amphiphiles and the consequent biological functions that emerge in these systems are described.
Abstract: Self-assembly programmed by molecular structure and guided dynamically by energy dissipation is a ubiquitous phenomenon in biological systems that build functional structures from the nanoscale to macroscopic dimensions. This paper describes examples of one-dimensional self-assembly of peptide amphiphiles and the consequent biological functions that emerge in these systems. We also discuss here hierarchical self-assembly of supramolecular peptide nanostructures and polysaccharides, and some new results are reported on supramolecular crystals formed by highly charged peptide amphiphiles. Reflecting on presentations at this Faraday Discussion, the paper ends with a discussion of some of the future opportunities and challenges of the field.
TL;DR: Results from coarse grain molecular dynamics simulations of mixed model membranes consisting of saturated and unsaturated lipids together with cholesterol, in which lipid-anchored membrane proteins are embedded are presented, showing formation of GM1-protein nano-domains that act as shuttles between the differently ordered membrane regions.
Abstract: We present results from coarse grain molecular dynamics simulations of mixed model membranes consisting of saturated and unsaturated lipids together with cholesterol, in which lipid-anchored membrane proteins are embedded. The membrane proteins studied are the peripherally bound H-Ras, N-Ras, and Hedgehog, and the transmembrane peptides WALP and LAT. We provide a molecular view on how the presence and nature of these lipid anchors affects partitioning of the proteins between liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered domains. In addition, we probed the role of the ganglioside lipid GM1 on the protein sorting, showing formation of GM1-protein nano-domains that act as shuttles between the differently ordered membrane regions.
TL;DR: Self-assembly of drugs into discrete nanostructures not only offers an innovative way to craft self-delivering anticancer drugs, but also extends the paradigm of using molecular assembly as a toolbox to achieve functional nanostructureures to a new area which is specifically focused on the direct assembly of functional molecules (e.g. drugs, or imaging agents) into nanoststructures of their own.
Abstract: Molecular assembly provides an effective approach to construct discrete supramolecular nanostructures of various sizes and shapes in a simple manner. One important technological application of the resulting nanostructures is their potential use as anticancer drug carriers to facilitate targeted delivery to tumour sites and consequently to improve clinical outcomes. In this carrier-assisted delivery strategy, anticancer drugs have been almost exclusively considered as the cargo to be carried and delivered, and their potential as molecular building blocks has been largely ignored. In this discussion, we report the use of anticancer drugs as molecular building units to create discrete supramolecular nanostructures that contain a high and quantitative drug loading and also have the potential for self-delivery. We first show the direct assembly of two amphiphilic drug molecules (methotrexate and folic acid) into discrete nanostructures. Our results reveal that folic acid exhibits rich self-assembly behaviour via Hoogsteen hydrogen bonding under various solvent conditions, whereas methotrexate is unable to assemble into any well-defined nanostructures under the same conditions, despite its similar chemical structure. Considering the low water solubility of most anticancer drugs, hydrophilic segments must be conjugated to the drug in order to bestow the necessary amphiphilicity. We have demonstrated this for camptothecin through the attachment of beta-sheet-forming peptides with overall hydrophilicity. We found that the intermolecular interactions among camptothecin segments and those among beta-sheet peptides act together to define the formation of stable one-dimensional nanostructures in dilute solutions, giving rise to nanotubes or nanofibers depending upon the processing conditions used. These results lead us to believe that self-assembly of drugs into discrete nanostructures not only offers an innovative way to craft self-delivering anticancer drugs, but also extends the paradigm of using molecular assembly as a toolbox to achieve functional nanostructures, to a new area which is specifically focused on the direct assembly of functional molecules (e.g. drugs, or imaging agents) into nanostructures of their own.