Continuous Isotropic-Nematic Transition in Amyloid Fibril Suspensions Driven by Thermophoresis.

ABSTRACT: The isotropic and nematic (I + N) coexistence for rod-like colloids is a signature of the first-order thermodynamics nature of this phase transition. However, in the case of amyloid fibrils, the biphasic region is too small to be experimentally detected, due to their extremely high aspect ratio. Herein, we study the thermophoretic behaviour of fluorescently labelled β-lactoglobulin amyloid fibrils by inducing a temperature gradient across a microfluidic channel. We discover that fibrils accumulate towards the hot side of the channel at the temperature range studied, thus presenting a negative Soret coefficient. By exploiting this thermophoretic behaviour, we show that it becomes possible to induce a continuous I-N transition with the I and N phases at the extremities of the channel, starti

SUBMITTER: Vigolo D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5430637 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature