(chemistry) a colloidal aggregate, in a simple geometric form, of a specific number of amphipathic molecules which forms at a well-defined concentration, called the critical micelle concentration
Used in a Sentence
micelle
Definition, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for micelle.
Editorial note
Through such a biofilm micelle only certain chemicals can get in or out.
Examples8
Definitions1
Parts of speech1
Quick take
(chemistry) a colloidal aggregate, in a simple geometric form, of a specific number of amphipathic molecules which forms at a well-defined concentration, called the critical micelle concentration
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of micelle gathered in one view.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for micelle.
noun
(chemistry) a colloidal aggregate, in a simple geometric form, of a specific number of amphipathic molecules which forms at a well-defined concentration, called the critical micelle concentration
Example sentences
Through such a biofilm micelle only certain chemicals can get in or out.
Since fat is not water soluble, transporting fat through the blood stream requires packaging it inside a micelle wrapped in phospholipids -- a lipoprotein.
Simple long chain carboxylic acids spontaneously make membrane-like micelle structures in water.
A recent example is the micelle used for mRNA vaccines.
So having a micelle (or nanoparticle, whatever you want to call it) that can get absorbed and merged into the cell that you are targeting specifically is a Big Deal.
The ultimate experiment would obviously be to go from a surfactant micelle in an amino acid soup to a functional cell synthesizing proteins using just genetic code or code precursors.
If you read the article you'd find that what they are finding are not microplastics - they're stearates[1] These are soap-like chemicals used as mould release agents on gloves, but what also means are chemically similar to plastics when analyzed by some techniques and under a microscope will spontaneously form micelle-structures which look very similar to microplastics (you can't exactly get in there and poke them).
Yes, as I understand it the metabolism first and lipid first ideas are related, in that you have some sort of micelle or vesicle that contains metabolism, and is partitioned off in a way that selection can act on them.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use micelle in a sentence?
Through such a biofilm micelle only certain chemicals can get in or out.
What does micelle mean?
(chemistry) a colloidal aggregate, in a simple geometric form, of a specific number of amphipathic molecules which forms at a well-defined concentration, called the critical micelle concentration
What part of speech is micelle?
micelle is commonly used as noun.