TY - JOUR
T1 - Quatsomes: Vesicles formed by self-assembly of sterols and quaternary ammonium surfactants
AU - Ferrer-Tasies, Lidia
AU - Moreno-Calvo, Evelyn
AU - Cano-Sarabia, Mary
AU - Aguilella-Arzo, Marcel
AU - Angelova, Angelina
AU - Lesieur, Sylviane
AU - Ricart, Susagna
AU - Faraudo, Jordi
AU - Ventosa, Nora
AU - Veciana, Jaume
PY - 2013/6/4
Y1 - 2013/6/4
N2 - Thermodynamically stable nanovesicle structures are of high interest for academia and industry in a wide variety of application fields, ranging from preparation of nanomaterials to nanomedicine. Here, we show the ability of quaternary ammonium surfactants and sterols to self-assemble, forming stable amphiphilic bimolecular building-blocks with the appropriate structural characteristics to form in aqueous phases, closed bilayers, named quatsomes, with outstanding stability, with time and temperature. The molecular self-assembling of cholesterol and surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was studied by quasi-elastic light scattering, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, turbidity (optical density) measurements, and molecular dynamic simulations with atomistic detail, upon varying the cholesterol-to- surfactant molar ratio. As pure species, CTAB forms micelles and insoluble cholesterol forms crystals in water. However, our molecular dynamic simulations reveal that the synergy between CTAB and cholesterol molecules makes them self-assemble into bimolecular amphiphiles and then into bilayers in the presence of water. These bilayers have the same structure of those formed by double-tailed unimolecular amphiphiles. © 2013 American Chemical Society.
AB - Thermodynamically stable nanovesicle structures are of high interest for academia and industry in a wide variety of application fields, ranging from preparation of nanomaterials to nanomedicine. Here, we show the ability of quaternary ammonium surfactants and sterols to self-assemble, forming stable amphiphilic bimolecular building-blocks with the appropriate structural characteristics to form in aqueous phases, closed bilayers, named quatsomes, with outstanding stability, with time and temperature. The molecular self-assembling of cholesterol and surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was studied by quasi-elastic light scattering, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, turbidity (optical density) measurements, and molecular dynamic simulations with atomistic detail, upon varying the cholesterol-to- surfactant molar ratio. As pure species, CTAB forms micelles and insoluble cholesterol forms crystals in water. However, our molecular dynamic simulations reveal that the synergy between CTAB and cholesterol molecules makes them self-assemble into bimolecular amphiphiles and then into bilayers in the presence of water. These bilayers have the same structure of those formed by double-tailed unimolecular amphiphiles. © 2013 American Chemical Society.
U2 - 10.1021/la4003803
DO - 10.1021/la4003803
M3 - Article
VL - 29
SP - 6519
EP - 6528
JO - Langmuir
JF - Langmuir
SN - 0743-7463
IS - 22
ER -