Cubic phases of gangliosides in water: Possible role of the conformational bistability of the headgroup

M Boretta, L Cantù, M Corti and E del Favero

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1997, vol. 236, issue 1, 162-176

Abstract: An accurate X-ray scattering study of the self-association properties in water of the ganglioside GM1, a biological amphiphile similar to phospholipids but with an oligosaccharide headgroup, is described. The phase diagram displays a large cubic region, for concentrations between 31% and 55% by weight, enclosed by isotropic micellar and lamellar phases. The peculiar feature of the GM1 molecule to present a conformational bistability, recently observed in ganglioside micelles, can be well recognized in the cubic phase region, suggesting that GM1-water behaves like a pseudoternary system, with an additional degree of freedom, automatically readjusting the mole fraction of the two conformers in order to optimize the molecular packing.

Keywords: Gangliosides; Cubic phases; X-ray scattering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:236:y:1997:i:1:p:162-176

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(96)00406-2

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