Description

Amphiphilic molecules can create various aggregates in water. Concern about exploring such structures has been unabated for several decades due to the wide range of possible applications of lipid aggregates, from food technology to the pharmaceutical industry. The form of self-assembled structures depends on many factors, such as the type of amphiphilic molecule, the concentration, the level of hydration, the temperature, and the pH. Liposomes and micelles are the most widely known types of closed structures. Liposomes are more often used in the fields of medicine and pharmacy because they consist of nontoxic compounds and their composition and size can be controlled. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is one of the methods, which is most commonly used to study liposome properties. It can be used to observe changes in the structure, dynamics, and phase transition of lipid membranes. The membrane properties are changed under the influence of external factors, such as temperature, pH, and the presence of ions or drugs. The chapter aims to introduce and discuss the possibilities of the most useful NMR methods, 31P and 1H, to study the liposome properties. It also aims to show how various changes in the structure or dynamics of lipid molecules are visible in the NMR spectra.

Chapter