Archaea are a domain of prokaryotes that are most widely recognized for surviving in harsh environmental conditions such as high salinity, acidic or alkaline pH, very low or high temperatures and high pressures. Their ability to thrive in these harsh conditions is attributed to the increased stability of their lipid membranes, which are composed of lipids containing fully saturated phytanyl alkyl chains connected through ether bonds to the glycerol backbone, compared to regular lipid membranes composed of phospholipids. These features increase the rigidity and robustness of their membranes resulting in a reduced permeability to ions and small molecules. These properties of archaeal lipids, along with their potential to be interfaced with biomolecules presents an attractive platform for the generation of stable, programmable, stimuli-responsive liposomes, capable of ion/small molecule encapsulation and their subsequent controlled release. Herein, we focus our efforts on improving and developing stable systems via the design, synthesis and characterization of novel Archaeal-type lipids for the formulation of new stable programmable materials.

Stable archeal lipid-inspired biomaterials

248th National Meeting (2014)

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