Fig. 4: Structural transition of LC microdroplets under varied conditions.
From: Enzymatically reconfigurable liquid crystalline coacervate microdroplets as protocell models
Schematic representations (a, e, i), POM images (b, f, j), SAXS profiles (c, g, k), and time-lapse optical (d, h) or fluorescence microscopy images (l) depicting ordered Cm-Am/DMAB (a–d) or Cm-dextrin/DDAB LC microdroplets (e–h) transformed into coacervate vesicles via helicoid pattern-featured vacuolization in the presence of amylase (0.9 or 0.3 mg/mL), while disordered Cm-Am/DTAB isotropic microdroplets (doped with RITC-Cm-Am) (i–l) reconfigured into coacervate vesicles without helicoid inner patterns after adding amylase (0.9 mg/mL). m Schematic illustration represented the addition of sodium chloride or hydrochloric acid initiated structural changes of Cm-Am/DDAB LC microdroplets into coacervate vesicles by charge screening of LC microdroplets or protonation of Cm-Am. n Time-dependent optical microscopy images showed the reconfiguration process of the LC microdroplets induced by 80 mM of sodium chloride. o Diagram of the LC microdroplets after adding varied concentrations of sodium chloride, displaying three regions divided based on the final states, including LC coacervates, coacervate vesicles, and solutions. Time series of optical microscopy images displaying the LC microdroplets remained unchanged in the presence of 15 mM of sodium chloride (p), while the LC droplets collapsed with adding 50 mM of sodium chloride (q). Scale bars, 5 μm. The experiments for b–d, f–h, j–l, n–q were repeated three times independently with similar results. Source data are provided as a Source data file.
