Sugar - Lipid Interactions: Structural and Dynamic Effects

Sugar-lipid complexes are nowadays extensively applied in biology, medicine and food science. In particular, sugars play an important role in maintaining cell viability in stressful environmental conditions. A detailed understanding of lipid-saccharide-solvent interactions can be achieved by a combined use of advanced microscopic structural and dynamical investigation techniques. In this review the effect of saccharide content on the gel to liquid-crystalline phase transition and on the multilayer structure of lipid membranes, as well as on the aggregation properties of liposomes in colloidal systems, is discussed.