Asymmetry determines the effects of natural ceramides on model membranes

Ceramides can dramatically influence the lateral organization of biological membranes. In particular, ceramide-induced alterations of protein-lipid domains can be involved in several cellular processes, ranging from senescence to immune response. In this context, an important role is played by the length of the fatty acid bound to the sphingosine moiety. Asymmetric, heterogeneous ceramides,with more than 20 or less than 16 carbon atoms in the fatty acyl chain, in fact exert diverging effects in vivo if compared to their symmetric counterparts. In this work, we investigated the role of ceramide asymmetry and heterogeneity in model membranes showing raft-like phase separation, using a combination of fluorescence imaging, atomic force microscopy, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. We show that ceramide produced enzymatically from natural mixtures of sphingomyelin can dramatically alter the mixing behaviour of proteins and lipids in the membrane, inducing a homogenization of the bilayer. Furthermore, we characterized the physical properties of coexisting lipid phases at equilibrium in membranes with varying ceramide content, emphasizing the differences between symmetric-homogeneous and asymmetric-heterogeneous ceramides. While symmetric ceramides always produce enhanced order, asymmetric ceramides display a more complex behavior similar to that of cholesterol. Our results might help contribute to a more precise understanding of the rearrangements induced by different kinds of ceramide generation in cellular membranes

Can Polarity-Inverted Surfactants Self-Assemble in Nonpolar Solvents

We investigate the self-assembly process of a surfactant with inverted polarity in water and cyclohexane using both all-atom and coarse grained hybrid particle-field molecular dynamics simulations. Unlike conventional surfactants, the molecule under study, proposed in a recent experiment, is formed by a rigid and compact hydrophobic adamantane moiety, and a long and floppy triethylene glycol tail. In water, we report the formation of stable inverted micelles with the adamantane heads grouping together into a hydrophobic core, and the tails forming hydrogen bonds with water. By contrast, microsecond simulations do not provide evidence of stable micelle formation in cyclohexane. Validating the computational results by comparison with experimental diffusion constant and small-angle X-ray scattering intensity, we show that at laboratory thermodynamic conditions the mixture resides in the supercritical region of the phase diagram, where aggregated and free surfactant states co-exist in solution. Our simulations also provide indications about how to escape this region, to produce thermodynamically stable micellar aggregates.Comment: 14 pages, 10 Figures, accepted for publication (2020

A Comment on Conical Flow Induced by Heavy-Quark Jets

The suppression of high transverse momentum particles, recently discovered at RHIC, is commonly interpreted as due to parton energy loss. In high energy nuclear collisions, QCD jets would deposit a large fraction of their energy and into the produced matter. The question of how this energy is degraded and whether we can use this phenomenon to probe the properties of the produced matter is now under active discussion. It has been proposed that if this matter, which is now being referred to as a {\em strongly coupled Quark-Gluon Plasma} (sQGP), may behave as a liquid with a very small viscosity. In this case, a very specific collective excitation should be produced, called the ``conical flow'', similar e.g. to the sonic booms generated by the shock waves produced by supersonic planes. The RHIC experiments seem indeed to be obtaining some indication that the production of particles emitted opposite to a high-$p_t$ jet may actually be peaked away from the quenched jet direction, at an angle roughly consistent with the direction expected in case a shock wave is produced (i.e. orthogonal to the Mach cone). In this note we speculate that for tagged heavy-quark jets one may observe a shrinkage of the Mach cone at moderate $p_t$. The experimental observation of such an effect would be a very good test for the validity of the whole picture currently emerging from the study of partonic matter in nuclear collisions

Correlations of Heavy Quarks Produced at Large Hadron Collider

We study the correlations of heavy quarks produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions and find them to be quite sensitive to the effects of the medium and the production mechanisms. In order to put this on a quantitative footing, as a first step, we analyze the azimuthal, transverse momentum, and rapidity correlations of heavy quark-anti quark ($Q\overline{Q}$) pairs in $pp$ collisions at $\cal{O}$($\alpha_{s}^{3}$). This sets the stage for the identification and study of medium modification of similar correlations in relativistic collision of heavy nuclei at the Large Hadron Collider. Next we study the additional production of charm quarks in heavy ion collisions due to multiple scatterings, {\it viz.}, jet-jet collisions, jet-thermal collisions, and thermal interactions. We find that these give rise to azimuthal correlations which are quite different from those arising from prompt initial production at leading order and at next to leading order.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures. Three new figures added, comparison to experimental data included, abstract and discussion expande

Hard probes in heavy ion collisions at the LHC: heavy flavour physics

We present the results from the heavy quarks and quarkonia working group. This report gives benchmark heavy quark and quarkonium cross sections for $pp$ and $pA$ collisions at the LHC against which the $AA$ rates can be compared in the study of the quark-gluon plasma. We also provide an assessment of the theoretical uncertainties in these benchmarks. We then discuss some of the cold matter effects on quarkonia production, including nuclear absorption, scattering by produced hadrons, and energy loss in the medium. Hot matter effects that could reduce the observed quarkonium rates such as color screening and thermal activation are then discussed. Possible quarkonium enhancement through coalescence of uncorrelated heavy quarks and antiquarks is also described. Finally, we discuss the capabilities of the LHC detectors to measure heavy quarks and quarkonia as well as the Monte Carlo generators used in the data analysis.Comment: 126 pages Latex; 96 figures included. Subgroup report, to appear in the CERN Yellow Book of the workshop: Hard Probes in Heavy Ion Collisions at the LHC. See also http://a.home.cern.ch/f/frixione/www/hvq.html for a version with better quality for a few plot

Rapidity distributions around mid-rapidity of strange particles in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 AA GeV/c

The production at central rapidity of K0s, Lambda, Xi and Omega particles in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 A GeV/c has been measured by the NA57 experiment over a centrality range corresponding to the most central 53% of the inelastic Pb-Pb cross section. In this paper we present the rapidity distribution of each particle in the central rapidity unit as a function of the event centrality. The distributions are analyzed based on hydrodynamical models of the collisions.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure

Purified F-ATP synthase forms a Ca2+-dependent high-conductance channel matching the mitochondrial permeability transition pore

The molecular identity of the mitochondrial megachannel (MMC)/permeability transition pore (PTP), a key effector of cell death, remains controversial. By combining highly purified, fully active bovine F-ATP synthase with preformed liposomes we show that Ca2+ dissipates the H+ gradient generated by ATP hydrolysis. After incorporation of the same preparation into planar lipid bilayers Ca2+ elicits currents matching those of the MMC/PTP. Currents were fully reversible, were stabilized by benzodiazepine 423, a ligand of the OSCP subunit of F-ATP synthase that activates the MMC/PTP, and were inhibited by Mg2+ and adenine nucleotides, which also inhibit the PTP. Channel activity was insensitive to inhibitors of the adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) and of the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC). Native gel-purified oligomers and dimers, but not monomers, gave rise to channel activity. These findings resolve the long-standing mystery of the MMC/PTP and demonstrate that Ca2+ can transform the energy-conserving F-ATP synthase into an energy-dissipating device

Centrality dependence of the expansion dynamics in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 A GeV/c

Two-particle correlation functions of negatively charged hadrons from Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/c per nucleon have been measured by the WA97 experiment at the CERN SPS. A Coulomb correction procedure that assumes an expanding source has been implemented. Within the framework of an expanding thermalized source model the size and dynamical state of the collision fireball at freeze-out have been reconstructed as a function of the centrality of the collision. Less central collisions exhibit a different dynamics than central ones: both transverse and longitudinal expansion velocities are slower, the expansion duration is shorter and the system freezes out showing smaller dimensions and higher temperature.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures, Te