| 1. |
- Ainla, Alar, 1982, et al.
(författare)
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Lab on a Biomembrane
- 2014
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Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 106:2, s. 209A-209A
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 2. |
- Ainla, Alar, 1982, et al.
(författare)
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Lab on a Biomembrane: Rapid prototyping and manipulation of 2D fluidic lipid bilayers circuits
- 2013
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322 .- 2045-2322. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lipid bilayer membranes are among the most ubiquitous structures in the living world, with intricate structural features and a multitude of biological functions. It is attractive to recreate these structures in the laboratory, as this allows mimicking and studying the properties of biomembranes and their constituents, and to specifically exploit the intrinsic two-dimensional fluidity. Even though diverse strategies for membrane fabrication have been reported, the development of related applications and technologies has been hindered by the unavailability of both versatile and simple methods. Here we report a rapid prototyping technology for two-dimensional fluidic devices, based on in-situ generated circuits of phospholipid films. In this "lab on a molecularly thin membrane'', various chemical and physical operations, such as writing, erasing, functionalization, and molecular transport, can be applied to user-defined regions of a membrane circuit. This concept is an enabling technology for research on molecular membranes and their technological use.
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| 3. |
- Gözen, Irep, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Fractal avalanche ruptures in biological membranes
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature Materials. - 1476-4660 .- 1476-1122. ; 9:11, s. 908-912
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bilayer membranes envelope cells as well as organelles, and constitute the most ubiquitous biological material found in all branches of the phylogenetic tree. Cell membrane rupture is an important biological process, and substantial rupture rates are found in skeletal and cardiac muscle cells under a mechanical load(1). Rupture can also be induced by processes such as cell death(2), and active cell membrane repair mechanisms are essential to preserve cell integrity(3). Pore formation in cell membranes is also at the heart of many biomedical applications such as in drug, gene and short interfering RNA delivery(4). Membrane rupture dynamics has been studied in bilayer vesicles under tensile stress(5-8), which consistently produce circular pores(5,6). We observed very different rupture mechanics in bilayer membranes spreading on solid supports: in one instance fingering instabilities were seen resulting in floral-like pores and in another, the rupture proceeded in a series of rapid avalanches causing fractal membrane fragmentation. The intermittent character of rupture evolution and the broad distribution in avalanche sizes is consistent with crackling-noise dynamics(9). Such noisy dynamics appear in fracture of solid disordered materials(10), in dislocation avalanches in plastic deformations(11) and domain wall magnetization avalanches(12). We also observed similar fractal rupture mechanics in spreading cell membranes.
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| 4. |
- Gözen, Irep, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Thermal migration of molecular lipid films as a contactless fabrication strategy for lipid nanotube networks
- 2013
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Ingår i: Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry and Biology. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1473-0189 .- 1473-0197. ; 13:19, s. 3822-3826
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We demonstrate the contactless generation of lipid nanotube networks by means of thermally induced migration of flat giant unilamellar vesicles (FGUVs), covering micro-scale areas on oxidized aluminum surfaces. A temperature gradient with a reach of 20 mm was generated using a focused IR laser, leading to a surface adhesion gradient, along which FGUVs could be relocated. We report on suitable lipid-substrate combinations, highlighting the critical importance of the electrostatic interactions between the engineered substrate and the membrane for reversible migration of intact vesicles.
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| 5. |
- Ainla, Alar, 1982, et al.
(författare)
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A Microfluidic Diluter Based on Pulse Width Flow Modulation
- 2009
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Ingår i: Analytical Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0003-2700 .- 1520-6882. ; 81:13, s. 5549-5556
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We demonstrate that pulse width flow modulation (PWFM) can be used to design fasts accurate, and precise multi-stage dilution modules for microfluidic devices. The PWFM stage unit presented here yields 10-fold dilution, but several PWFM stages can be connected in series to yield higher-order dilutions. We have combined two stages in a device thus capable of diluting up to 100-fold, and we have experimentally determined a set of rules that can be conveniently utilized to design multistage diluters. Microfabrication with resist-based molds yielded geometrical channel height variances of 7% (22.9(16) mu m) with corresponding hydraulic resistance variances of similar to 20%. Pulsing frequencies, channel lengths, and flow pressures can be chosen within a wide range to establish the desired diluter properties. Finally, we illustrate the benefits of on-chip dilution in an example application where we investigate the effect of the Ca2+ concentration on a phospholipid bilayer spreading from a membrane reservoir onto a SiO2 surface. This is one of many possible applications where flexible concentration control is desirable.
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| 6. |
- Bilal, T., et al.
(författare)
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Formation and dynamics of endoplasmic reticulum-like lipid nanotube networks
- 2017
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Ingår i: Biomaterials Science. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2047-4849 .- 2047-4830. ; 5:7, s. 1256-1264
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the self-organized formation and dynamics of artificial lipid nanotube networks, which, in terms of morphology and behavior, resemble the endoplasmic reticulum(ER) of biological cells. The networks, initially generated from a solid- supported planar phospholipid membrane, undergo a morphological transformation, triggered by the chelation and removal of Ca2+ from the environment surrounding the membrane. Calcium depletion gradually causes de-pinning, thus de-wetting, at the membrane-substrate interface. We observe dynamic re-arrangements very similar to the ones reported for the cellular ER, such as sliding of tubes and formation of new junctions, and quantify these transformations. We also show occurrences of the dynamic replacement of lipidic particles on nanotubes as indicators for the existence of a tension gradient throughout the network, as well as the spontaneous formation of small vesicles from semi-free floating tubes. We propose that these artificial networks are suitable to serve as a bottom-up-generated structural model for the cellular ER, whose fascinating characteristic morphology is suggested to be tied to its biological function, but with respect to formation, dynamics, and functional details still incompletely understood.
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| 7. |
- Gupta, Abhay, et al.
(författare)
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A cellular automaton for modeling non-trivial biomembrane ruptures
- 2019
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Ingår i: Soft Matter. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1744-6848 .- 1744-683X. ; 15:20, s. 4178-4186
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A novel cellular automaton (CA) for simulating biological membrane rupture is proposed. Constructed via simple rules governing deformation, tension, and fracture, the CA incorporates ideas from standard percolation models and bond-based fracture methods. The model is demonstrated by comparing simulations with experimental results of a double bilayer lipid membrane expanding on a solid substrate. Results indicate that the CA can capture non-trivial rupture morphologies such as floral patterns and the saltatory dynamics of fractal avalanches observed in experiments. Moreover, the CA provides insight into the poorly understood role of inter-layer adhesion, supporting the hypothesis that the density of adhesion sites governs rupture morphology.
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| 8. |
- Gözen, Irep, 1980
(författare)
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A Hypothesis for Protocell Division on the Early Earth
- 2019
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Ingår i: ACS Nano. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1936-086X .- 1936-0851. ; 13:10, s. 10869-10871
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- I hypothesize that the division of the first protocell might have occurred before genetic polymers were synthesized and redistributed. In the light of recent findings, it is conceivable that the first division event of a primitive protocell might have occurred at the same time as its surface-assisted formation.
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| 9. |
- Gözen, Irep, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Autonomous Development of Compositional Diversity in Self-Spreading Flat Protocells
- 2024
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Ingår i: ChemSystemsChem. - 2570-4206. ; In Press
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An experimental pathway to the spontaneous generation of compositionally diverse synthetic protocells is presented. The pathway is initiated by flat giant unilamellar vesicles (FGUVs) that originate from compositionally different multilamellar lipid reservoirs and undergo spontaneous spreading across solid surfaces. On contact, the spreading FGUVs merge to produce a concentration gradient in membrane lipids across the fusion interface. Subsequent reconstruction through a series of shape transformations produces a network of nanotube-connected lipid vesicles that inherit different ratios of the membrane constituents derived from the bilayers of the parent FGUVs. The fusion process leads to the engulfment of small FGUVs by larger FGUVs, mimicking predator-prey behavior in which the observable characteristics of the prey are lost but the constituents are carried by the predator FGUV to the next generation of lipid vesicles. We speculate that our results could provide a feasible pathway to autonomous protocell diversification in origin of life theories and highlight the possible role of solid surfaces in the development of diversity and rudimentary speciation of natural protocells on the early Earth.
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| 10. |
- Gözen, Irep, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Biological lipid nanotubes and their potential role in evolution
- 2020
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Ingår i: European Physical Journal: Special Topics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1951-6401 .- 1951-6355. ; 229:17-18, s. 2843-2862
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The membrane of cells and organelles are highly deformable fluid interfaces, and can take on a multitude of shapes. One distinctive and particularly interesting property of biological membranes is their ability to from long and uniform nanotubes. These nanoconduits are surprisingly omnipresent in all domains of life, from archaea, bacteria, to plants and mammals. Some of these tubes have been known for a century, while others were only recently discovered. Their designations are different in different branches of biology, e.g. they are called stromule in plants and tunneling nanotubes in mammals. The mechanical transformation of flat membranes to tubes involves typically a combination of membrane anchoring and external forces, leading to a pulling action that results in very rapid membrane nanotube formation - micrometer long tubes can form in a matter of seconds. Their radius is set by a mechanical balance of tension and bending forces. There also exists a large class of membrane nanotubes that form due to curvature inducing molecules. It seems plausible that nanotube formation and functionality in plants and animals may have been inherited from their bacterial ancestors during endosymbiotic evolution. Here we attempt to connect observations of nanotubes in different branches of biology, and outline their similarities and differences with the aim of providing a perspective on their joint functions and evolutionary origin.
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