Lipid self-assembly
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K. Sugihara, M. Chami, I. Derenyi, J. Voros, and T. Zambelli, ACS nano 6, 6626 (2012) DOI
We are interested in the fundamental mechanism behind lipid self-assembly. The main component of bacterial cell membranes, 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE), self-assembles into single-wall tubes with an outer diameter of 19.1 ± 4.5 nm due to the balance between bending energy and surface tension.
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K. Sugihara, M. Delai, R. Mahnna, J. Kusch, D. Poulikakos, J. Voros, T. Zambelli, and A. Ferrari, Integrative biology 5, 423 (2013) DOI
The surface-assembled lipid nanotubes were used to monitor cell force activities.
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K. Jajcevic, M. Chami, K. Sugihara, Small (2016) DOI
The lipid nanotubes can be used as a template to create solid structures. For example, gold nanoparticles were attached to the lipid nanotubes to fabricated gold nanowires.
A. Kozintsev and K. Sugihara, Rsc Adv 7 (33), 20700 (2017)
LNTs were also used to connect cells, which can be used as a model system for studying the function of tunneling nanotubes.