Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Facile Preparation of Internally Self-assembled Lipid Particles Stabilized by Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: February 19, 2016
Structure of the body-centered cubic phase of lipid systems
1Institut Pasteur, Unité de Biochimie des Régulations Cellulaires, Département de Biochimie et Génétique Moléculaire, 28 rue du Docteur Roux, 75015 Paris.
Abstract:
A new model is proposed for the structure of the body-centered cubic phase of lipid systems. Infinite rods of polar groups (and water) are arranged with axes parallel to the four cubic [unk]1 1 1[unk] directions. The hydrocarbon chains fill the space between the rods to form a continuous matrix. With this unified topology, the model explains satisfactorily the x-ray diffraction patterns of strontium soaps, lecithin, galactolipids, potassium soaps, and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and explains the transition between cubic/H(II) phases. The paradoxical thermal effects on the lipid cubic phase, in particular the decrease of unit cell dimensions with increasing temperature, can be explained with the proposed model by mechanisms similar to those used for the monodimensional and bidimensional (mesomorphic) phases.
Related Concept Videos
What are Lipids?
Non-Polar and Hydrophobic Characteristics of Lipids
Lipids are a structurally and functionally diverse group of hydrocarbons—compounds consisting of carbon and hydrogen atoms. The carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds...
What are Lipids?
Structure of Lipids
Structure of Lipids
Structure of Lipids
Asymmetric Lipid Bilayer

