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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Spontaneous Formation and Rearrangement of Artificial Lipid Nanotube Networks as a Bottom-Up Model for Endoplasmic Reticulum
Published on: January 22, 2019
Nanoscale ripples in self-assembled lipid tubules
Nidhi Mahajan1, Yue Zhao, Tianbao Du
1Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center and Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, USA.
Abstract:
Self-assembled cylindrical tubules of 1,2-bis(tricosa-10,12-diynoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DC(8,9)PC) have been studied by atomic force microscopy in both the height and amplitude modes. Nanoscale ripple structures in the cylindrical lipid tubules are clearly resolved in amplitude mode images. The periodicity of the ripples is found to be 200 +/- 30 nm for tubules with diameters in the range from 200 to 650 nm. The angle of the ripples with respect to the equator of the tubules shows a bimodal distribution with centers at approximately 28 degrees and approximately 5 degrees.

