Beginning with the free energy potential for long-range interactions between parallel flat sheets and the mechanical energy of bending those sheets, we have derived an upper bound for repulsion enhanced by thermal undulations of sheets in a multilamellar array. Through a self-consistent (mean-field) potential, we cover the full range of layer separations from close-in to far-apart, where the en...

Anionic, monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been shown to nondisruptively penetrate cellular membranes. Here, we show that a critical first step in the penetration process is potentially the fusion of such AuNPs with lipid bilayers. Free energy calculations, experiments on unilamellar and multilamellar vesicles, and cell studies all support this hypothesis. Furthermore, we show...

We study by light microscopy a soft glass consisting of a compact arrangement of polydisperse multilamellar vesicles. We show that its slow and nonstationary dynamics results from the unavoidable small fluctuations of temperature, which induce intermittent local shear deformations in the sample, because of thermal expansion and contraction. Temperature-induced shear provokes both reversible and...

The lipid composition and structure of detergent-resistant membrane rafts from human, goat, and sheep erythrocytes is investigated. While the sphingomyelin:cholesterol ratio varied from about 1:5 in human to 1:1 in sheep erythrocytes a ratio of 1:1 was found in all raft preparations insoluble in Triton X-100 at 4 degrees C. Excess cholesterol is excluded from rafts and saturated molecular speci...

The influence of the freeze-thawing process on the size and lamellarity of multilamellar PEG-lipid liposomes prepared from a mixture of egg yolk phosphatidilcholine (EggPC) and distearoyl phosphatidylethanolamine polyethyleneglycol (DSPE-PEG) 2000 was investigated. Trapped volume measurement, quasielastic light scattering (QELS) and freeze-fracture electron microscopy were used to estimate the ...

Sinapic acid (SA), belonging to the phenylpropanoid family, and its derivatives are secondary metabolites found in plant kingdom. In recent years, they have drawn attention because of their various biological activities, including neuroprotective effects. this study, SA was incorporated into two different nanoparticle systems, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) nanostructured carriers (NLC). The i...