Naslov
Biophysical studies of fatty acid vesicles as protocell models

Autori
Noethig-Laslo, Vesna ; Dejanović, Branka ; Mirosavljević, Krunoslav ; Pečar, Slavko ; Šentjurc, Marjeta ; Walde, Peter

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Abstracts of COST D27 Chembiogenesis 2006 / - , 2006

Skup
COST D27 Chembiogenesis 2006

Mjesto i datum
Barcelona, Španjolska, 14.12.2006. - 17.12.2006

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Pozvano predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Nije recenziran

Ključne riječi
fatty acid vesicles; micelles; decanoates

Sažetak
Since their discovery in 1973, fatty acid vesicles have been considered as model for protocells, the hypothetical precursor structures of the first cells [1]. Under defined conditions of pH and concentration, fatty acids and their salts - as short as eight carbons in lengths (n-octanoic acid) - assemble into vesicular structures [2]. Recent studies on dilute aqueous mixtures of the potentially prebiotically relevant decanoic acid and its sodium salt showed a complex aggregation behaviour, dominated by the formation of micelles and vesicles, both aggregates being always in equilibrium with non-associated decanoate molecules [3]. The formation of complexes between fatty acids and their soaps in water was shown to occur in the case of the oleic acid/oleate system, and the stabilization of oleic acid/oleate bilayers by intermolecular hydrogen bonding was discussed [4]. An electron spin resonance (ESR) study of the pH-induced transformation of micelles into vesicles showed that oleic acid/oleate aggregates within intermediate pH region is a dynamic system, in which vesicles always coexist with a small amount of non-vesicular aggregates [5]. The aim of our study is to get a deeper understanding of the structural and dynamic properties of fatty acid vesicles by comparing the decanoic acid/decanoate system with the oleic acid/oleate system using four different types of spin labeled compounds. 1. J. M. Gebicki, M. Hicks, Nature 243 (1973) 232-234. 2. C.L. Apel, D.W. Deamer, M. N. Mautner, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1559 (2002) 1-9. 3. T. Namani, P. Walde, Langmuir 21 (2005) 6210-6219. 4. T.H. Haines, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80 (1983) 160-164. 5. H Fukuda, A. Goto, H. Yosioka, R. Goto, K. Morigaki, P. Walde, Langmuir 17 (2001) 4223-4231.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Kemija

POVEZANOST RADA