Ordering transitions in nematic liquid crystals driven by self-assembly of ceramide

Abstract

An important barrier to progress in cancer therapy is the impotence to control the equilibrium between cell proliferation and apoptosis. Some lipids play a vital role in controlling the cellular signaling pathways that mediates these processes for example, ceramide. So we investigated the self-assembly of ceramide (lipid) at liquid crystals (LCs) - aqueous interface. The impact of two different systems namely grid system and droplet system on the dynamics of the LCs ordering transitions driven by the lipid was studied. At saturation coverage, the lipid orders the LCs in an orientation that is perpendicular to the interface. The Effect of Langmuir Blodgett films of the lipid on LC- aqueous interface at different surface pressure was also studied to get an insight in to the slow ordering of LCs in the other two systems. Over all this study will offer a novel method for the detection of a biologically relevant lipid and this will pave a new pathway for the detection of cancer.