Surfactants, micelles, and vesicles constitute a class of self-assembled soft-matter physical systems arising from amphiphilic molecules in solution. Above the critical micelle concentration, surfactants spontaneously form micelles, typically spherical or anisotropic aggregates with hydrophobic cores and hydrophilic coronas, governed by minimization of interfacial free energy and packing constraints. At higher concentrations or appropriate conditions (e.g., temperature, ionic strength, tail architecture), these assemblies can transition into bilayer-based vesicles, closed shell structures encapsulating aqueous volumes and exhibiting bending elasticity, membrane tension, and permeability properties. Collectively, these systems serve as model platforms for studying interfacial thermodynamics, mesoscale organization, and transport phenomena in complex fluids.
A team of researchers based at the University of Toronto's (U of T) Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy has discovered a novel ionizable lipid nanoparticle that enables muscle-focused mRNA delivery while minimizing off-target ...
Bio & Medicine
Dec 8, 2023
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All cells secrete nanoscale extracellular vesicles naturally as lipid-bilayer delimited particles. Therefore they are valid biomarkers to identify a variety of diseases.
Vaterite is one of the three forms of calcium carbonate, along with calcite and aragonite. Nanosized vaterite is valuable for various applications, such as drug delivery, cosmetics, and bone defect filling, owing to its biocompatibility, ...
Bio & Medicine
Nov 7, 2023
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A collaborative study led by researchers from Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute has revealed the promising possibilities of using an agarose spot migration assay to examine the ability of extracellular vesicles to ...
Bio & Medicine
Oct 31, 2023
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102
A research team from the Department of Applied Chemistry and Life Science at the Toyohashi University of Technology has discovered a phenomenon in which specific lipids were concentrated on graphene oxide in a multicomponent ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 19, 2023
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Cage structures made with nanoparticles could be a route toward making organized nanostructures with mixed materials, and researchers at the University of Michigan have shown how to achieve this through computer simulations.
Nanophysics
May 25, 2023
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Particles known as extracellular vesicles play a vital role in communication between cells and in many cell functions. Released by cells into their environment, these "membrane particles" consist of a cellular membrane carrying ...
Bio & Medicine
May 24, 2023
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The synthesis of multifunctional nanoparticles is commonly a complex endeavor and hampers the clinical translation of effective nanomedicines. In their most recent work, Matthias Barz and coworkers present a microfluidic ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 22, 2023
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125
In order to deliver cancer therapeutics to tumor cells, the cells' membranes must be overcome. A team of researchers have discovered a simple way to achieve this using lipid nanoparticles containing the reagent EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 16, 2023
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Researchers in Japan have developed a new method for purifying cholesterol-modified DNA nanostructures that could be used to functionalize molecular robot bodies (lipid vesicles). The study was a collaboration between Yusuke ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 6, 2023
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