Lipid Chains: Supramolecular Behavior and Biological Applications

Dear colleagues,

This Special Issue entitled "Lipid Chains: Supramolecular Behavior and Biological Applications" aims to highlight recent developments on the impact of the nature of lipid chains of amphiphilic compounds on their self-assembling properties through their physicochemical description, and also the structure–activity relationship between lipid chains and their biological activities.

Lipids are the main building block of biological membranes, and a great structural diversity is present in nature. Membranes are necessary for life, and inside, lipids constitute a biological barrier from the surrounding environment. Additionally, important biochemical reactions take place at the membrane interface. The nature of the lipid chains strongly impacts the permeability and fluidity of cell membranes. For example, bacteria have the capacity to modify the composition of their lipids in response to stress conditions such as acidification of the milieu by decreasing permeability or high temperature by reducing membranes’ fluidity.    

Furthermore, lipid structures and their aggregation properties are key parameters that must be carefully considered when designing drug (or gene) delivery vehicles. The carriers require stability in the bloodstream and fusion properties with the membranes of target cells, and instability once inside the cell to release the cargo. At each step, the physicochemical properties of the carrier can be adjusted by choosing the right lipids. For example, unsaturated lipid chains are known to enhance membrane fusion. Likewise, branched lipid chains are fully described for their propensity to promote more fusogenic inverted hexagonal phases.

This issue concerns all lipids or amphiphilic compounds (natural or synthesized) and the study of their aggregation properties (in water, buffer media, or a dry state) and/or their structure–activity relationship studies (drug delivery, gene delivery, antimicrobial, antifouling properties). Authors are kindly invited to submit original articles or reviews.

Dr. Mathieu Berchel
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• lipid chain
• amphiphiles
• supramolecular assemblies
• physicochemical studies
• drug delivery
• fusion properties
• biological properties