Cubic Phases and Cubic Phase Dispersions in a Phospholipid-Based System

摘要

Bicontinuous cubic liquid crystalline (LC) phases formed in mixtures of lipids and water represent thermodynamically stable 3D bilayer structures forming an infinite periodical minimal surface (IPMS).Unsaturated monoglycerides (uMGs),most noteworthy,glycerol monooleate (GMO),are particularly interesting as they exhibits two cubic phases,one of which coexists with a water phase in the dilute region of the phase diagram.The exceptional physical chemical behavior of uMGs has stimulated their use as biomembrane models in a broad range of structural and functional investigations of proteins,peptides,and other biomolecules6 entrapped in the uMG cubic phase.The uMG cubic phases have also been used in practical/technical applications such as bioelec-trode and biosensor construction and protein and metal nanoparticle crystallization.Because of the 3D nanostructure with hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains,cubic liquid crystalline phases have also found application in pharmaceutical drug delivery applications.