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Updated: Mar 22, 2026

Atomic Force Microscopy Imaging and Force Spectroscopy of Supported Lipid Bilayers
Published on: July 22, 2015
Characterization of sorbitan surfactant-based vesicles at the molecular scale using NMR: Effect of acyl chain length
Keita Hayashi1, Hideka Iwai1, Toshiyuki Kamei1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Nara College, 22 Yata-cho, Yamatokoriyama, Nara 639-1080, Japan.
Abstract:
We focused on the characterization of the hydrophobic-hydrophilic interface of the membrane of vesicles prepared with various sorbitan surfactants using two evaluation methods: Laurdan fluorescence intensity (GP(340) value) and NMR analysis (half linewidth). Laurdan fluorescence intensity analysis, used to evaluate the hydrophobicity of the interior of the vesicular membrane, indicated a similarity between Span vesicles and liposomes in terms of hydrophobicity, while NMR analysis, used to assess the mobility of lipid molecules, indicated a large difference between Span vesicles and liposomes in terms of molecular mobility at the interface. These results suggest that the physicochemical properties of Span vesicles and liposomes are roughly similar at the "meso-scale" but not completely similar at the "molecular scale."
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