Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
178,033 studies31 sourcesUpdated 40 min ago
PreprintCC BYChemRxiv

Temperature-dependent Hydrocarbon Chain Packing in Fatty Acid Protocell Membranes at Mineral Interfaces

  • Shunto Harada1,2,3,4
  • Yuki Murakami4
  • Hye-Eun Lee1,4
  • Yamei Li1,4
  • Aileen Cooney1,5,6
  • Tomoaki Matsuura1,7
  • Ryuhei Nakamura1,2,3,4
7 affiliations
  1. 1Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI, Institute of Science Tokyo, 2-12-1-I7E Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 152-8550
  2. 2School of Materials and Chemical Technology
  3. 3Institute of Science Tokyo
  4. 4Biofunctional Catalyst Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, Japan, 351-0198
  5. 5Department of Chemistry, Molecular Sciences Research Hub
  6. 6Imperial College London
  7. 7Department of Life Science and Technology Institute of Science Tokyo
Open at sourceDOICite

Abstract

Fatty acid vesicles generated through water-rock interactions have been proposed as plausible models of protocells on early Earth. However, how mineral surfaces influence membrane properties over a wide range of temperatures remains unclear. Here, we investigate the temperature-dependent phase transition and hydrocarbon chain packing of vesicles composed of decanoic acid (DA) and 1-decanol (DOH) in contact with FeS, a key hydrothermal vent mineral. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that DOH incorporation enhances orientational ordering of the hydrocarbon chains, forming more densely packed and thermally stable membranes. This enhancement in molecular ordering induced by DOH incorporation was confirmed experimentally by in situ temperature-controlled micro-Raman spectroscopy and cross-polarized optical microscopy. Upon contact with FeS, DA/DOH vesicles preferentially adhered to FeS surfaces and underwent pronounced structural deformation in response to microscale mineral topology. Despite this deformation, the DA/DOH vesicles retained their liquid-crystalline membrane state. These results demonstrate that FeS surface reorganizes hydrocarbon chain packing in fatty acid membranes, suggesting that mineral-associated protocells possess structurally and dynamically distinct membrane states from free-floating vesicles under the thermally dynamic HV environments.

Related

  1. Phosphorus Chemistry and the Origin of Life: From N-Phosphoryl Amino Acid to Protocell.
    Jianxi Ying, Yan Liu, Songsen Fu +2
    Accounts of chemical researchPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDFull textGeneral astronomyEurope PMC
  2. Thermal evolution of neo-neutron stars. II. Temperature-dependent crusts
    Sagnik Chatterjee, Mikhail V. Beznogov, Dany Page +1
    Astronomy & AstrophysicsPeer-reviewedPublisher termsHigh-energy astrophysicsCrossref
  3. Temperature-dependent differences between empirical lithium age estimators in benchmark open clusters
    Ramarao Tata, Eduardo L Martín, Eder Martioli +2
    Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textSolar & stellar physicsCrossref
  4. Effects of temperature-dependent optical properties on the determination of interstellar dust masses
    Lapo Fanciullo, Jonathan P. Marshall, Francisca Kemper +2
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textGalaxiesarXiv
  5. Physically Motivated Stellar Populations for Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn with a Temperature-Dependent IMF
    Gibson B. Bowling, Charles L. Steinhardt, Lachlan J. Hobart +15
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textCosmologyGalaxiesarXiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{harada2026temperaturedependent,
  title = {{Temperature-dependent Hydrocarbon Chain Packing in Fatty Acid Protocell Membranes at Mineral Interfaces}},
  author = {Shunto Harada and Yuki Murakami and Hye-Eun Lee and Yamei Li and Aileen Cooney and Tomoaki Matsuura and Ryuhei Nakamura},
  howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15010154/v1},
  url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010154/v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Temperature-dependent Hydrocarbon Chain Packing in Fatty Acid Protocell Membranes at Mineral Interfaces
AU  - Shunto Harada
AU  - Yuki Murakami
AU  - Hye-Eun Lee
AU  - Yamei Li
AU  - Aileen Cooney
AU  - Tomoaki Matsuura
AU  - Ryuhei Nakamura
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/09
PB  - ChemRxiv
DO  - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15010154/v1
UR  - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010154/v1
AB  - Fatty acid vesicles generated through water-rock interactions have been proposed as plausible models of protocells on early Earth. However, how mineral surfaces influence membrane properties over a wide range of temperatures remains unclear. Here, we investigate the temperature-dependent phase transition and hydrocarbon chain packing of vesicles composed of decanoic acid (DA) and 1-decanol (DOH) in contact with FeS, a key hydrothermal vent mineral. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that DOH incorporation enhances orientational ordering of the hydrocarbon chains, forming more densely packed and thermally stable membranes. This enhancement in molecular ordering induced by DOH incorporation was confirmed experimentally by in situ temperature-controlled micro-Raman spectroscopy and cross-polarized optical microscopy. Upon contact with FeS, DA/DOH vesicles preferentially adhered to FeS surfaces and underwent pronounced structural deformation in response to microscale mineral topology. Despite this deformation, the DA/DOH vesicles retained their liquid-crystalline membrane state. These results demonstrate that FeS surface reorganizes hydrocarbon chain packing in fatty acid membranes, suggesting that mineral-associated protocells possess structurally and dynamically distinct membrane states from free-floating vesicles under the thermally dynamic HV environments.
ER  -