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Published on: April 27, 2021
Hexagonal phase with ordered acyl chains formed by a short chain asymmetric ceramide
F G Dupuy1, S P Fernández Bordín2, B Maggio3
1Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas (INSIBIO), CONICET-UNT, and Instituto de Química Biológica "Dr. Bernabé Bloj", Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia, UNT. Chacabuco 461, T4000ILI San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina.
Abstract:
Ceramides constitute a group of lipids with usually high melting temperature that also favor negative curvature in membranes when mixed with other lipids. The short chain C10:0 ceramide is an asymmetric lipid which consists of an 18 carbon sphingosine base N-acylated with decanoic acid. According to high sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry, it shows a minor exothermic peak at 61°C and a main endothermic transition at 75°C. By small angle X-ray scattering and polarized light microscopy we found that, at temperatures below the main transition, the fully hydrated lipid dispersions are arranged in a tridimensional structure corresponding to an inverted hexagonal phase. Infrared spectroscopy and wide angle X-ray diffraction indicated that the acyl chains of ceramides exhibit a relatively high order in the hexagonal phase. As far as we know, this is the first report of a lipid hexagonal phase having highly ordered acyl chains. Molecular asymmetry due to the different length of the sphingosine and the N-acyl chains of C10:0 ceramide may explain why this novel phase is formed.
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