Hopanoids Like Sterols Form Compact but Fluid Films

PUENTES, ELIDA N.; WILKE, NATALIA; PUENTES, ELIDA N.; WILKE, NATALIA; MANGIAROTTI, AGUSTÍN; OLIVEIRA, RAFAEL G.; MANGIAROTTI, AGUSTÍN; OLIVEIRA, RAFAEL G.; GALASSI, VANESA V.; DEL PÓPOLO, MARIO G.; GALASSI, VANESA V.; DEL PÓPOLO, MARIO G.

LANGMUIR

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2019 vol. 35 p. 9848 - 9857

0743-7463

Hopanoids are pentacyclic molecules present in membranes from some bacteria, recently proposed as sterol surrogates in these organisms. Diplopterol is an abundant hopanoid that, similar to sterols, does not self-aggregate in lamellar structures when pure, but forms monolayers at the air-water interface. Here, we analyze the interfacial behavior of pure diplopterol and compare it with sterols from different organisms: Cholesterol from mammals, ergosterol from fungi, and stigmasterol from plants.