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The invited talks presented during the 3-day conference raised an interesting and an extensive range of subjects in liquid crystal science and engineering. Although discussions in the coffee breaks and highlights in the social programme like the conference dinner or an excursion were missing, the conference was a huge success. The scientific programme consisted of 10 invited lectures, 28 regular talks and 48 short talks arranged into over 10 plenary sessions and 2 poster sessions. [Extracted from the article]

Non-invasive imaging of morphological changes in biologically relevant lipidic mesophases is essential for the understanding of membrane-mediated processes. However, its methodological aspects need to be further explored, with particular attention paid to the design of new excellent fluorescent probes. Here, we have demonstrated that bright and biocompatible folic acid-derived carbon nanodots (FA CNDs) may be successfully applied as fluorescent markers in one- and two-photon imaging of bioinspired myelin figures (MFs). Structural and optical properties of these new FA CNDs were first extensively characterized; they revealed remarkable fluorescence performance in linear and non-linear excitation regimes, justifying further applications. Then, confocal fluorescence microscopy and two-photon excited fluorescence microscopy were used to investigate a three-dimensional distribution of FA CNDs within the phospholipid-based MFs. Our results showed that FA CNDs are effective markers for imaging various forms and parts of multilamellar microstructures.

Lyotropic myelin figures (MFs), i.e., long cylindrical structures formed by certain surfactants, owe their name to their resemblance to the biological membrane that covers nerve fibers. Herein, we used a strong bilayer-forming zwitterionic phospholipid stained by the Nile Red dye to study lamellar mesophases. Polarized optical microscopy and fluorescence confocal microscopy allowed us to investigate the morphology of myelin structures and determine the orientational order of amphiphilic molecules. The cross-sectional views reveal significant differences in the configurations of MFs within the liquid crystalline cell, as well as the details of a spontaneous and stimulated formation of branched lipid tubes. Our results provide insights into small-scale morphology and out-of-equilibrium structural changes in the multilamellar structures.