Why Do Membranes of Some Unhealthy Cells Adopt a Cubic Architecture?

ABSTRACT: Nonlamellar lipid arrangements, including cubosomes, appear in unhealthy cells, e.g., when they are subject to stress, starvation, or viral infection. The bioactivity of cubosomes-nanoscale particles exhibiting bicontinuous cubic structures-versus more common vesicles is an unexplored area due to lack of suitable model systems. Here, glycodendrimercubosomes (GDCs)-sugar-presenting cubosomes assembled from Janus glycodendrimers by simple injection into buffer-are proposed as mimics of biological cubic membranes. The bicontinuous cubic GDC architecture has been demonstrated by electron tomography. The stability of these GDCs in buffer enabled studies on lectin-dependent agglutination, revealing significant differences compared with the vesicular glycodendrimersome (GDS) counterpart. In parti

SUBMITTER: Xiao Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5200934 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature