Investigation of membrane bilayer vesicle formation influenced by temperature and coarse-grained water models

This study investigated the effects of system temperature and type of solvent (water) on the process and mechanism of liposome formation. A mixture of DOPE (1, 2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) with negative curvature, and DOPC (1, 2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine), as no curvature phospholipids were utilized for the formation of liposomal structures. To assess the impact of temperature on the formation of liposomal structures, temperatures of 300 and 400 K were employed. Additionally, to investigate the effect of solvent type, both polar and non-polar coarse-grained water solvents were used. The results showed that DOPC and DOPE phospholipids formed bilayered spherical liposomal structures at both 300 and 400 K. However, the rate of liposome formation was higher at 400 K compared with 300 K (almost 3 times higher). This suggests that 400 K is the optimal temperature for enhancing the efficiency of liposome synthesis. Furthermore, the findings revealed that DOPC and DOPE phospholipids formed bilayered spherical liposomes and bilayered ellipsoidal liposomes in polar and non-polar coarse-grained water media, respectively. Both polar and non-polar coarse-grained water are suitable for liposome formation.