Genome replication of coronaviruses takes place in specific cellular compartments, in so-called double-membrane vesicles (DMVs), formed from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). An intensive production of DMVs is induced by non-structural viral proteins....
A Finsler geometric surface model is studied as a coarse-grained model for membranes of three components, such as zwitterionic phospholipid (DOPC), lipid (DPPC) and an organic molecule (cholesterol). To understand the phase separation of liquid-order...
Membrane solubilization induced by Triton X-100 (TX-100) was investigated. Different membrane compositions and phase states were studied along the detergent titration. Expected solubilization profiles were obtained but new information is provided. Th...
To address the slow response, low pointing accuracy, and degraded stability caused by the coexistence of fractional-order dynamics, dual-axis coupling, and system delay in liquid crystal optical phased array (LCOPA) beam control, a fractional-order c...
This work addresses a critical challenge in microscale computational electromagnetics for liquid crystal-based reconfigurable components: the inadequate capability of current software to accurately identify and simulate higher-order modes (HoMs) in c...
Chirality plays a vital role in biological membranes and has a significant effect depending on the type and arrangement of the isomer. Menthol has two typical chiral forms, d- and l-, which exhibit different behaviours. l-Menthol is known for its phy...
Although liquid–liquid phase separation of cytoplasmic or nuclear components in cells has been a major focus in cell biology, it is only recently that the principle of phase separation has been a long-standing concept and extensively studied in biome...
The membrane translocation efficiency of cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) has been largely studied, and poly-arginines have been highlighted as particularly active CPPs, especially upon negatively charged membranes. Here we inquire about the influenc...
Lipid rafts are dynamic microdomains in the membrane, rich in cholesterol and sphingolipids, that are critical for biological processes like cell signalling, membrane trafficking, and protein organization. Their essential role is claimed in both phys...
In this work, we employed a non-linear programming (NLP) approach via quantitative structure–retention relationships (QSRRs) modelling for prediction of elution order in reversed phase-liquid chromatography. With our rapid and efficient approac...
This mini-review intends to highlight the importance of bilayer asymmetry. Biological membranes are complex structures that are a physical barrier separating the external environment from the cellular content. This complex bilayer comprises an extens...
We present a theoretical and numerical study of the Self-Consistent Spectral Potential Mean-Field (SC-SPMF) method for the description of structure and stability of phase transitions in condensed matter. The method extends the original Spectral Poten...
Aiming at the limitation that the traditional integer-order dynamic model of a liquid crystal optical phased array (LCOPA) cannot simultaneously characterize the liquid crystal deformation memory effect, cross-coupling of two-dimensional deflection c...
Global climate change has caused severe abiotic and biotic stresses, affecting plant growth and food security. The mechanical understanding of plant stress responses is critical for achieving sustainable agriculture. Intrinsically disordered proteins...
Liquid crystals (LCs) confined in various host system have attracted great interest in recent [...]
The value of two-dimensional (2D) materials in printed electronics has been gradually explored, and the rheological properties of 2D material dispersions are very different for various printing technologies. Understanding the rheological properties o...
The geometrical properties of the icosahedral ordered structure formed in liquid and glassy phases of metallic glasses are investigated by using molecular dynamics simulations. We investigate the Zr-Cu alloy system as well as a simple model for binar...
Phosphorus is an indispensable key element in life systems and materials science. Here in this work, several cyanoterphenyl-based phosphinic acid-bridged liquid crystal (LC) dimers of 2(CTOn)P (n = 6, 11) and their methyl esterification derivatives o...
Density functional theory of rod-coil diblock copolymers, developed recently by the authors, has been generalised and used to study the liquid crystal ordering and microphase separation effects in the hexagonal, lamellar and nematic phases. The trans...
Cell membranes are heterogeneous in lipid composition which leads to the phase separation with the formation of nanoscopic liquid-ordered domains, also called rafts. There are multiple cell processes whereby the clustering of these domains into a lar...
Signal transduction through cellular membranes requires the highly specific and coordinated work of specialized proteins. Proper functioning of these proteins is provided by an interplay between them and the lipid environment. Liquid-ordered lipid do...
Variable-diameter pipe parts have been widely used in the automobile industry, aerospace industry, and other fields. To enhance the surface quality of variable-diameter pipe and explore the effect of solid–liquid two-phase magnetic fluid (SLTPM...
The functional mechanisms of local anesthetics (LAs) have not yet been fully explained, despite their importance in modern medicine. Recently, an indirect interaction between channel proteins and LAs was proposed as follows: LAs alter the physical pr...
One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides in the brain. The processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) into Aβ is dependent on the location of APP in the membrane, membrane l...
Current understanding of the structure and functioning of biomembranes is impossible without determining the mechanism of formation of membrane lipid rafts. The formation of liquid-ordered and disordered phases (Lo and Ld) and lipid rafts in membrane...
The kinetics of the non-isothermal and isothermal crystallization of the crystalline smectic B phase (soft crystal B, SmBcr) in 4-n-butyloxybenzylidene-4′-n′-octylaniline (BBOA) was studied by a combination of differential scanning calori...
The local and global order in dense packings of linear, semi-flexible polymers of tangent hard spheres are studied by employing extensive Monte Carlo simulations at increasing volume fractions. The chain stiffness is controlled by a tunable harmonic...
Liquid-liquid transitions were discovered above the melting temperature (Tm) in Bi and Sn up to 2 Tm, viewed as glass transitions at Tg = Tn+ > Tm of composites nucleated at Tx < Tm and fully melted at Tn+. A glassy fraction (f) disappeared at...
The interplay of adhesion and phase separation is studied theoretically for two-component membranes that can phase separate into two fluid phases such as liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered phases. Many adhesion geometries provide two different envi...
Various pathogens use receptors on the host’s plasma membrane for their cellular uptake. For the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, interactions between its lectin LecA and the host cell glycosphingolipid globotriaosylceramide (also known as Gb3...
The disruption of cell membranes by tau and amylin oligomers is linked to amyloid diseases such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes, respectively. The recent studies suggest that misfolded tau and amylin can form neurotoxic hetero-oligomers that are st...
Retroviruses selectively incorporate a specific subset of host cell proteins and lipids into their outer membrane when they bud out from the host plasma membrane. This specialized viral membrane composition is critical for both viral survivability an...
Mixtures of semiflexible polymers with a mismatch in either their persistence lengths or their contour lengths are studied by Density Functional Theory and Molecular Dynamics simulation. Considering lyotropic solutions under good solvent conditions,...
The formation of purely metallic meso-porous metal thin films by partial interface coalescence of self-assembled metal nano-particles across aqueous solutions of Pluronics triblock lyotropic liquid crystals is demonstrated for the first time. Small a...
Prediction of the retention time from the molecular structure using quantitative structure-retention relationships is a powerful tool for the development of methods in reversed-phase HPLC. However, its fundamental limitation lies in the fact that low...
The control and prediction of soft systems exhibiting self-organization behavior can be realized by different means but still remains a highlighted task. Novel advanced nanocomposite system has been designed by filling of a stretched porous polyethyl...
Cells adhere to the extracellular matrix at distinct anchoring points, mostly focal adhesions. These are rich in immobile transmembrane- and cytoskeletal-associated proteins, some of which are known to interact with lipids of the plasma membrane. To...
A library of 20 roof-shaped biaxial nematogens has been synthesized, with two different lateral chains, R1 and R2, and a terminal carboxyl ester linked via spacers of different lengths. Polarized optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calori...
Angular X-ray cross-correlation analysis (AXCCA) is a technique which allows quantitative measurement of the angular anisotropy of X-ray diffraction patterns and provides insights into the orientational order in the system under investigation. This m...
A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of the potential impurities of dexketoprofen, including the distomer R-ketoprofen. After screening the separation capability of fo...
Oxidative stress induces lipid peroxidation within the membrane bilayer, thereby compromising membrane integrity. Polyphenols (PPs), renowned for their antioxidant properties, have been shown to mitigate oxidative damage. Here, we investigated the st...
Local inhomogeneities in lipid composition play a crucial role in the regulation of signal transduction and membrane traffic. This is particularly the case for plant plasma membrane, which is enriched in specific lipids, such as free and conjugated f...
Cholesterol-enriched functional portions of plasma membranes, such as caveolae and rafts, were isolated from lungs of wild-type (WT) and caveolin-1 knockout (Cav-1 KO) mice within detergent resistant membranes (DRMs). To gain insight into their molec...
The lipid membranes of living cells are composed of a large number of lipid types and can undergo phase separation with the formation of nanometer-scale liquid-ordered lipid domains, also called rafts. Raft coalescence, i.e., the fusion of lipid doma...
Tubular epithelial cells of the human kidney are considered as targets of Shiga toxins (Stxs) in the Stx-mediated pathogenesis of hemolytic–uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by Stx-releasing enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). Analysis of Stx-bindi...
The aggregation of human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide (hIAPP) on cell membranes is linked to amyloid diseases. However, the physio-chemical mechanisms of how these hIAPP aggregates trigger membrane damage are unclear. Using coarse-grained and all-atom m...
Petasin, a lipophilic sesquiterpene ester isolated from Petasites hybridus, exhibits well-documented anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic activities, although its molecular mechanisms of action remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigated its...
Cell plasma membranes display a dramatically rich structural complexity characterized by functional sub-wavelength domains with specific lipid and protein composition. Under favorable experimental conditions, patterned morphologies can also be observ...
The blood–brain barrier (BBB) limits drug delivery to the brain, particularly for large or hydrophilic molecules. Brain microvascular endothelial cells (bEND.3), which form part of the BBB, play a critical role in regulating drug uptake. This s...
Human kidney epithelial cells are supposed to be directly involved in the pathogenesis of the hemolytic–uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). The characterization of the major and minor...
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