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Updated: Mar 3, 2026

Synthesis of Compound Giant Unilamellar Vesicles: A Biomimetic Model of Nucleate Cells
Published on: July 3, 2025
Microviscosity, encapsulation, and permeability of 2-ketooctanoic acid vesicle membranes
Huifang Xu1, Na Du1, Yawen Song1
1Key Laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, Jinan 250100, P. R. China. wghou@sdu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
In the current work, the microviscosity, encapsulation, and permeability of 2-ketooctanoic acid (KOCOOH) vesicle membranes were investigated by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence techniques, using 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH), riboflavin, and calcein as fluorescence probes. Our results show that the microviscosity of KOCOOH membranes is similar to that of common bilayer aggregates, the KOCOOH vesicles have the ability to encapsulate hydrophilic guests, and the KOCOOH membranes are permeable to ions. The permeation of OH- across KOCOOH membranes can be well described using a first-order kinetic model. The KOCOOH vesicles may be a good alternative protocell model that possesses some functional properties necessary for early cell membranes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the characteristics of vesicle membranes of single-tailed keto-acid amphiphiles.
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