Tubules, beads, discs and junctions – Morphologies and dynamics of dispersed multilamellar lipid phases in excess water.

• Nucleation of the multilamellar tubes from the defects. • Membrane tubules grow in the absence of proteins, polymers or solute and leaflet asymmetry. • Kinetics of hydration control the dynamics of MLTs. • The tubular structures disintegrate into the bulk water phase inside the sealed sample cells. In this paper, experimental results on the swelling, dispersion and disintegration of the lamellae composed of the lipid, 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) in contact with excess water are described. Multilamellar structures nucleate and grow at the interface between the pure solvent and the lipid. The system evolves slowly via flow and coalescence of lamellae through a variety of non-equilibrium morphologies demonstrating that their dynamics is complex and non-universal, with no unique kinetic pathway. The tubular structures disintegrate slowly into the bulk water phase, inside the sealed sample chamber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]