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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Crystallizing Membrane Proteins for Structure Determination using Lipidic Mesophases
Published on: November 22, 2010
Chiral sign induction by vortices during the formation of mesophases in stirred solutions
Abstract:
Achiral diprotonated porphyrins, forming homoassociates in aqueous solution, lead to spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking. The unexpected result is that the chirality sign of these homoassociates can be selected by vortex motion during the aggregation process. This result is confirmed by means of circular dichroism spectra. These experimental findings are rationalized in terms of the asymmetric influence of macroscopic forces on bifurcation scenarios and by considering the specific binding characteristics of the porphyrin units to form the homoassociates.
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