Here is another fascinating application of amphiphilic cyclodextrin presented by Université Paris-Saclay and Université de Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens).
Small bilayer lipid aggregates such as bicelles provide useful membrane mimetics for structural studies of biological membranes. Wedge-shaped amphiphilic derivative of trimethyl β-cyclodextrin anchored in bilayers through a lauryl acyl chain (TrimβMLC) is able to induce fragmentation of the multilamellar membranes. DMPC membranes are progressively disrupted by TrimβMLC into small and large micellar aggregates. No membrane orientation and fragmentation were detected with unsaturated POPC membranes, which are able to accommodate the insertion of TrimβMLC without important perturbation.
Michel Roux, François-Xavier Legrand, Véronique Bonnet et al
See the article here: Fragmentation of DMPC Membranes by a Wedge-Shaped Amphiphilic Cyclodextrin into Bicellar-like Aggregates
