Journal
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-CONDENSED MATTER
Volume 34, Issue 12, Pages -Publisher
IOP Publishing Ltd
DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/ac45b7
Keywords
phase; transitions; liposomes
Categories
Funding
- Conacyt, Mexico [FC-1132]
- Conacyt
- FIDSC-2018 [100]
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Phase transitions of liposomes can be studied using differential scanning calorimetry. When the temperature changes, liposomes transition from a gel to a liquid phase or from a liquid to a gel phase, accompanied by changes in their size.
Phase transitions of liposomes are normally studied by differential scanning calorimetry. A suspension of liposomes is subjected to an increase (decrease) of temperature and when heat is absorbed (released), the liposomes transit from a gel (liquid) to a liquid (gel) phase. This endothermic (exothermic) process takes place at a temperature called the melting temperature T (m), which is distinctive of the type of lipids forming the vesicles. The vesicles, though, also modify their size in the transition. Indeed, the thickness of the membranes decreases (increases) because carbon tails misalign (align). Concomitant with the modifications in the membrane thickness, the diameter (D) of the liposomes changes too. Therefore, when they are inspected by light, the scattered signal carries information from such dilatation (contraction) process. We performed careful experiments using dynamic light scattering as a function of temperature to detect the size changes of different liposomes. Gaussian fits of the derivatives of the D vs T curves coincide within 1% with thermograms, which hints to the possibility of performing thermodynamic studies of lipid systems employing light.
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