Janus Liposomes: Formation, Self-Assembly and Controlled Motion

脂质体是脂质双层(S)在水中自组装的球形小颗粒。自从20世纪60年代被发现以来，脂质体已被证明是基础研究(如细胞生物学、生物物理学和生物技术)和工业中的宝贵材料(如食品、药物输送和化妆品)的一种使能工具。在美国国家科学基金会化学部大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目的支持下，奥本大学的詹教授正在研发一种新型脂质体--Janus脂质体。与传统(对称)脂质体不同，Janus脂质体包含两个相对的部分，具有不同的化学特性和表面特征。詹教授的研究重点是利用Janus脂质体的独特性质来创造具有高级功能的新脂质材料。詹教授还为该地区的高中生和代表性不足的大学生创造了新的机会，让他们参与到脂质材料和自组装化学的研究中来。詹教授的工作旨在做出具有重大科学和工业影响的发现，并帮助培养在化学关键分支拥有高级技能的下一代工作者。Janus脂质体表现出不均匀的表面化学和破坏的对称性，这些特性与传统脂质体不同。这些独特的属性从根本上改变了Janus脂质体相互作用以及与周围介质相互作用的方式，这些方式尚未被探索和了解。为此，詹教授研究了Janus脂质体的制备、自组装和运动行为。在第一个方向上，詹教授正在开发一种批量制备Janus脂质体的通用方法。这一新方法有助于消除阻碍一个有前途的新领域取得进展的瓶颈，并可以使其他感兴趣的研究人员对该领域做出贡献。此外，他还使用Janus脂质体通过自组装构建复杂的脂类结构，并通过选择性地对特定的脂类结构域进行功能化来实现其受控运动。这些活动开始提供对Janus脂质体自组装的详细了解，并建立了几种可靠的方法来驱动、指导和控制水悬浮Janus脂质体的运动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Liposomes are small spherical particles of lipid bilayer(s) self-assembled in water. Ever since their discovery in the 1960s, liposomes have proved to be an enabling tool in fundamental research (e.g., cell biology, biophysics and biotechnology) and invaluable material in industry (e.g., food, drug delivery and cosmetics). With the support from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the NSF Chemistry Division, Professor Zhan of Auburn University is developing a new type of liposomes - Janus liposomes. Unlike conventional (symmetrical) liposomes, Janus liposomes contain two opposing halves with different chemical identity and surface characteristics. Professor Zhan's research focuses on harnessing the unique properties of Janus liposomes to create new lipid materials with advanced functionality. Professor Zhan is also creating new opportunities for high school students and underrepresented college students in the region to participate in research on lipid materials and self-assembly chemistry. Professor Zhan's work aims to make discoveries with significant scientific and industrial impact and to help nurture next-generation workers who have advanced skills in a key branch of chemistry.Janus liposomes display heterogeneous surface chemistry and broken symmetry, properties distinct from those of conventional liposomes. These unique attributes fundamentally alter the ways Janus liposomes interact with each other and with the surrounding media, which have yet to be explored and understood. To this end, Professor Zhan studies the preparation, self-assembly and motional behavior of Janus liposomes. In the first direction, Professor Zhan is developing a general method to prepare Janus liposomes in batch quantity. This new method helps to remove a bottleneck hampering the advancement of a promising new area and can enable other interested researchers to make contributions to this field. In addition, he is also using Janus liposomes to build complex lipid architectures via self-assembly and to achieve their controlled motion through selective functionalization of specific lipid domains. These activities begin to provide a detailed understanding on the self-assembly of Janus liposomes and establish several robust methods to drive, direct and control motion of aqueous-suspended Janus liposomes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.