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Stackhouse CI, Pierson KN, Labrecque CL, Mawson C, Berg J, Fuglestad B, Nucci NV. Characterization of 10MAG/LDAO reverse micelles: Understanding versatility for protein encapsulation. Biophys Chem 2024; 311:107269. [PMID: 38815545 PMCID: PMC11225088 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2024.107269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Revised: 05/17/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Reverse micelles (RMs) are spontaneously organizing nanobubbles composed of an organic solvent, surfactants, and an aqueous phase that can encapsulate biological macromolecules for various biophysical studies. Unlike other RM systems, the 1-decanoyl-rac-glycerol (10MAG) and lauryldimethylamine-N-oxide (LDAO) surfactant system has proven to house proteins with higher stability than other RM mixtures with little sensitivity to the water loading (W0, defined by the ratio of water to surfactant). We investigated this unique property by encapsulating three model proteins - cytochrome c, myoglobin, and flavodoxin - in 10MAG/LDAO RMs and applying a variety of experimental methods to characterize this system's behavior. We found that this surfactant system differs greatly from the traditional, spherical, monodisperse RM population model. 10MAG/LDAO RMs were discovered to be oblate ellipsoids at all conditions, and as W0 was increased, surfactants redistributed to form a greater number of increasingly spherical ellipsoidal particles with pools of more bulk-like water. Proteins distinctively influence the thermodynamics of the mixture, encapsulating at their optimal RM size and driving protein-free RM sizes to scale accordingly. These findings inform the future development of similarly malleable encapsulation systems and build a foundation for application of 10MAG/LDAO RMs to analyze biological and chemical processes under nanoscale confinement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Crystal I Stackhouse
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd, Glassboro, NJ 08028, United States; Department of Biomedical and Biological Sciences, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd, Glassboro, NJ 08028, United States.
| | - Kali N Pierson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd, Glassboro, NJ 08028, United States; Department of Biomedical and Biological Sciences, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd, Glassboro, NJ 08028, United States.
| | - Courtney L Labrecque
- Department of Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284, United States.
| | - Cara Mawson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd, Glassboro, NJ 08028, United States; Department of Biomedical and Biological Sciences, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd, Glassboro, NJ 08028, United States.
| | - Joshua Berg
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd, Glassboro, NJ 08028, United States; Department of Biomedical and Biological Sciences, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd, Glassboro, NJ 08028, United States
| | - Brian Fuglestad
- Department of Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284, United States; Institute for Structural Biology, Drug Discovery and Development, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23219, United States.
| | - Nathaniel V Nucci
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd, Glassboro, NJ 08028, United States; Department of Biomedical and Biological Sciences, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd, Glassboro, NJ 08028, United States.
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Gradzielski M, Duvail M, de Molina PM, Simon M, Talmon Y, Zemb T. Using Microemulsions: Formulation Based on Knowledge of Their Mesostructure. Chem Rev 2021; 121:5671-5740. [PMID: 33955731 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Microemulsions, as thermodynamically stable mixtures of oil, water, and surfactant, are known and have been studied for more than 70 years. However, even today there are still quite a number of unclear aspects, and more recent research work has modified and extended our picture. This review gives a short overview of how the understanding of microemulsions has developed, the current view on their properties and structural features, and in particular, how they are related to applications. We also discuss more recent developments regarding nonclassical microemulsions such as surfactant-free (ultraflexible) microemulsions or ones containing uncommon solvents or amphiphiles (like antagonistic salts). These new findings challenge to some extent our previous understanding of microemulsions, which therefore has to be extended to look at the different types of microemulsions in a unified way. In particular, the flexibility of the amphiphilic film is the key property to classify different microemulsion types and their properties in this review. Such a classification of microemulsions requires a thorough determination of their structural properties, and therefore, the experimental methods to determine microemulsion structure and dynamics are reviewed briefly, with a particular emphasis on recent developments in the field of direct imaging by means of electron microscopy. Based on this classification of microemulsions, we then discuss their applications, where the application demands have to be met by the properties of the microemulsion, which in turn are controlled by the flexibility of their amphiphilic interface. Another frequently important aspect for applications is the control of the rheological properties. Normally, microemulsions are low viscous and therefore enhancing viscosity has to be achieved by either having high concentrations (often not wished for) or additives, which do not significantly interfere with the microemulsion. Accordingly, this review gives a comprehensive account of the properties of microemulsions, including most recent developments and bringing them together from a united viewpoint, with an emphasis on how this affects the way of formulating microemulsions for a given application with desired properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Gradzielski
- Stranski-Laboratorium für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, D-10623 Berlin, Germany
| | - Magali Duvail
- ICSM, Université Montpellier, CEA, CNRS, ENSCM, 30207 Marcoule, France
| | - Paula Malo de Molina
- Centro de Física de Materiales (CFM) (CSIC-UPV/EHU)-Materials Physics Center (MPC), Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 5, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain.,IKERBASQUE - Basque Foundation for Science, María Díaz de Haro 3, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Miriam Simon
- Stranski-Laboratorium für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, D-10623 Berlin, Germany.,Department of Chemical Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnolgy Inst. (RBNI), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IL-3200003, Israel
| | - Yeshayahu Talmon
- Department of Chemical Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnolgy Inst. (RBNI), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IL-3200003, Israel
| | - Thomas Zemb
- Stranski-Laboratorium für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, D-10623 Berlin, Germany.,ICSM, Université Montpellier, CEA, CNRS, ENSCM, 30207 Marcoule, France
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