Magnifying the Structural Components of Biomembranes: A Prototype for the Study of the Self-Assembly of Giant Lipids

作者：Yan, Xiao-Yun; Lin, Zhiwei^*; Zhang, Wei; Xu, Hui; Guo, Qing-Yun; Liu, Yuchu; Luo, Jiancheng; Liu, Xian-You; Zhang, Rongchun; Huang, Jiahao; Liu, Tong; Su, Zebin; Zhang, Ruimeng; Zhang, Shuailin; Liu, Tianbo; Cheng, Stephen Z. D.^*

来源：Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 2020, 59(13): 5226-5234.

DOI：10.1002/anie.201916149

• amphiphiles
• biomimetic synthesis
• membranes
• oligofluorene
• supramolecular chemistry

How biomembranes are self-organized to perform their functions remains a pivotal issue in biological and chemical science. Understanding the self-assembly principles of lipid-like molecules hence becomes crucial. Herein, we report the mesostructural evolution of amphiphilic sphere-rod conjugates (giant lipids), and study the roles of geometric parameters (head-tail ratio and cross-sectional area) during this course. As a prototype system, giant lipids resemble natural lipidic molecules by capturing their essential features. The self-assembly behavior of two categories of giant lipids (I-shape and T-shape, a total of 8 molecules) is demonstrated. A rich variety of mesostructures is constructed in solution state and their molecular packing models are rationally understood. Giant lipids recast the phase behavior of natural lipids to a certain degree and the abundant self-assembled morphologies reveal distinct physiochemical behaviors when geometric parameters deviate from natural analogues.