Two sides of the coin. Part 2. Colloid and surface science meets real biointerfaces

• Published in: Colloids and surfaces, B, Biointerfaces B, Biointerfaces, 2017-11, Vol.159, p.394-404
• Main Authors: Ninham, Barry W., Larsson, Kåre, Lo Nostro, Pierandrea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anaesthesia; Cubosome(s); Curvature; Hydration; Lipid raft(s); Lipid(s); Membrane(s); Packing; Self-assembly; Specificity; Surfactant(s)
• ISSN: 0927-7765; 1873-4367
• DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2017.07.090

[Display omitted] •Global packing and local curvature determine the structure of biological systems.•The phase behavior of lipids determines the performances of biological systems.•Some biological phenomena depend on the structural changes in the lipid bilayers. Part 1 revisited developments in lipid and surfactant self assembly over the past 40 years [1]. New concepts emerged. Here we explore how these developments can be used to make sense of and bring order to a range of complex biological phenomena. Together with Part 1, this contribution is a fundamental revision of intuition at the boundaries of Colloid Science and Biological interfaces from a perspective of nearly 50 years. We offer new insights on a unified treatment of self assembly of lipids, surfactants and proteins in the light of developments presented in Part 1. These were in the enabling disciplines in molecular forces, hydration, oil and electrolyte specificity; and in the role of non Euclidean geometries—across the whole gammut of physical, colloid and surface chemistry, biophysics and membrane biology and medicine. It is where the early founders of the cell theory of biology and the physiologists expected advances to occur as D’Arcy Thompson predicted us 100 years ago.