# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/lipid-membrane-structure-and-behavior/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior research in the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 for Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior is defined by a rapid pivot toward translational applications, particularly mRNA therapeutics. Lipid nanoparticles and ionizable lipids dominate the highly-cited landscape, with major growth in research optimizing endosomal release and transfection efficiency compared to previous years.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 4,164 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Lipid nanoparticles, Ionizable lipids, Messenger RNA delivery |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 41–119 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved June 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | AGILE platform: a deep learning powered approach to accelerate LNP development for mRNA delivery | Yue Xu, Shihao Ma, Haotian Cui, Jingan Chen, Shufen Xu, Fanglin Gong, Alex Golubovic, Muye Zhou, Kevin Chang Wang, Andrew Varley, Rick Xing Ze Lu, Bo Wang, Bowen Li | Bo Wang, Bowen Li | University of Toronto, Canada | Nature Communications | 119 | 10.1038/s41467-024-50619-z |
| 2 | Peptide-Functionalized Lipid Nanoparticles for Targeted Systemic mRNA Delivery to the Brain | Emily L Han, Sophia Tang, Dongyoon Kim, Amanda M Murray, Kelsey L Swingle, Alex G Hamilton, Kaitlin Mrksich, Marshall S Padilla, Rohan Palanki, Jacqueline J Li, Michael J Mitchell | Michael J. Mitchell | University of Pennsylvania, United States | Nano Letters | 113 | 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c05186 |
| 3 | Charge-assisted stabilization of lipid nanoparticles enables inhaled mRNA delivery for mucosal vaccination | Shuai Liu, Yixing Wen, Xinzhu Shan, Xinghuan Ma, Chen Yang, Xingdi Cheng, Yuanyuan Zhao, Jingjiao Li, Shiwei Mi, Haonan Huo, Wei Li, Ziqiong Jiang, Yijia Li, Jiaqi Lin, Lei Miao, Xueguang Lu | Xueguang Lu | Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Nature Communications | 108 | 10.1038/s41467-024-53914-x |
| 4 | Breaking the final barrier: Evolution of cationic and ionizable lipid structure in lipid nanoparticles to escape the endosome | Kaitlin Mrksich, Marshall S Padilla, Michael J Mitchell | Michael J. Mitchell | University of Pennsylvania, United States | Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews | 81 | 10.1016/j.addr.2024.115446 |
| 5 | A Foundation Model Identifies Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Peptides against Drug-Resistant Bacterial Infection | Tingting Li, Xuanbai Ren, Xiaoli Luo, Zhuole Wang, Zhenlu Li, Xiaoyan Luo, Jun Shen, Yun Li, Dan Yuan, Ruth Nussinov, Xiangxiang Zeng, Junfeng Shi, Feixiong Cheng | Xiangxiang Zeng, Junfeng Shi, Feixiong Cheng | Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University, China | Nature Communications | 76 | 10.1038/s41467-024-51933-2 |
| 6 | Decreased lipidated ApoE-receptor interactions confer protection against pathogenicity of ApoE and its lipid cargoes in lysosomes | Jing L Guo, Dylan Braun, Gabriel A Fitzgerald, Yun-Ting Hsieh, Lionel Rougé, Alexandra Litvinchuk, Micah Steffek, Nicholas E Propson, Catherine M Heffner, Claire Discenza, Suk Ji Han, Anil Rana, Lukas L Skuja, Bi Qi Lin, Elizabeth W Sun, Sonnet S Davis, Srijana Balasundar, Isabel Becerra, Jason C Dugas, Connie Ha, Jennifer Hsiao-Nakamoto, Fen Huang, Shourya Jain, Jennifer E Kung, Nicholas P D Liau, Cathal S Mahon, Hoang N Nguyen, Nathan Nguyen, Madhuja Samaddar, Yajuan Shi, David Tatarakis, Yuxi Tian, Yuda Zhu, Jung H Suh, Thomas Sandmann, Meredith E K Calvert, Annie Arguello, Lesley A Kane, Joseph W Lewcock, David M Holtzman, Christopher M Koth, Gilbert Di Paolo | Jing Guo, Gilbert Di Paolo | Denali Therapeutics Inc., United States | Cell | 75 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.10.027 |
| 7 | Molecular architecture of coronavirus double-membrane vesicle pore complex | Yixin Huang, Tongyun Wang, Lijie Zhong, Wenxin Zhang, Yu Zhang, Xiulian Yu, Shuofeng Yuan, Tao Ni | Shuofeng Yuan, Tao Ni | The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong | Nature | 71 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07817-y |
| 8 | Biomolecular condensates mediate bending and scission of endosome membranes | Yanning Wang, Shulin Li, Marcel Mokbel, Alexander I May, Zizhen Liang, Yonglun Zeng, Weiqi Wang, Honghong Zhang, Feifei Yu, Katharina Sporbeck, Liwen Jiang, Sebastian Aland, Jaime Agudo-Canalejo, Roland L Knorr, Xiaofeng Fang | Roland L. Knorr, Xiaofeng Fang | Tsinghua University, China | Nature | 66 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07990-0 |
| 9 | Acid-degradable lipid nanoparticles enhance the delivery of mRNA | Sheng Zhao, Kewa Gao, Hesong Han, Michael Stenzel, Boyan Yin, Hengyue Song, Atip Lawanprasert, Josefine Eilsø Nielsen, Rohit Sharma, Opeyemi H Arogundade, Sopida Pimcharoen, Yu-Ju Chen, Abhik Paul, Jan Tuma, Michael G Collins, Yofiel Wyle, Matileen Grace Cranick, Benjamin W Burgstone, Barbara S Perez, Annelise E Barron, Andrew M Smith, Hye Young Lee, Aijun Wang, Niren Murthy | Hesong Han, Aijun Wang, Niren Murthy | University of California, Berkeley, United States | Nature Nanotechnology | 65 | 10.1038/s41565-024-01765-4 |
| 10 | Lipidome atlas of the adult human brain | Maria Osetrova, Anna Tkachev, Waltraud Mair, Patricia Guijarro Larraz, Olga Efimova, Ilia Kurochkin, Elena Stekolshchikova, Nickolay Anikanov, Juat Chin Foo, Amaury Cazenave-Gassiot, Aleksandra Mitina, Polina Ogurtsova, Song Guo, Daria M Potashnikova, Alexander A Gulin, Alexander A Vasin, Anastasia Sarycheva, Gleb Vladimirov, Maria Fedorova, Yury Kostyukevich, Evgeny Nikolaev, Markus R Wenk, Ekaterina E Khrameeva, Philipp Khaitovich | Markus R. Wenk, Ekaterina E. Khrameeva, Philipp Khaitovich | Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Russia | Nature Communications | 64 | 10.1038/s41467-024-48734-y |
| 11 | Regulation of cellular and systemic sphingolipid homeostasis | Andrew Kuo, Timothy Hla | Timothy Hla | Boston Children's Hospital, United States | Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology | 60 | 10.1038/s41580-024-00742-y |
| 12 | Liquid crystalline inverted lipid phases encapsulating siRNA enhance lipid nanoparticle mediated transfection | Roy Pattipeiluhu, Ye Zeng, Marco M R M Hendrix, Ilja K Voets, Alexander Kros, Thomas H Sharp | Alexander Kros, Thomas H. Sharp | Leiden University, Netherlands | Nature Communications | 51 | 10.1038/s41467-024-45666-5 |
| 13 | Enhancing extracellular vesicle cargo loading and functional delivery by engineering protein-lipid interactions | Justin A Peruzzi, Taylor F Gunnels, Hailey I Edelstein, Peilong Lu, David Baker, Joshua N Leonard, Neha P Kamat | Joshua N. Leonard, Neha P. Kamat | Northwestern University, United States | Nature Communications | 51 | 10.1038/s41467-024-49678-z |
| 14 | Lipid nanodisc scaffold and size alter the structure of a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel | Vikram Dalal, Mark J Arcario, John T Petroff, Brandon K Tan, Noah M Dietzen, Michael J Rau, James A J Fitzpatrick, Grace Brannigan, Wayland W L Cheng | Wayland W.L. Cheng | Washington University School of Medicine, United States | Nature Communications | 48 | 10.1038/s41467-023-44366-w |
| 15 | Lysosomal damage sensing and lysophagy initiation by SPG20-ITCH | Pinki Gahlot, Bojana Kravic, Giulia Rota, Johannes van den Boom, Sophie Levantovsky, Nina Schulze, Elena Maspero, Simona Polo, Christian Behrends, Hemmo Meyer | Hemmo Meyer | University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany | Molecular Cell | 43 | 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.02.029 |
| 16 | Short-distance vesicle transport via phase separation | Hua Qiu, Xiandeng Wu, Xiaoli Ma, Shulin Li, Qixu Cai, Marcelo Ganzella, Liang Ge, Hong Zhang, Mingjie Zhang | Mingjie Zhang | Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China | Cell | 42 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.03.003 |
| 17 | Ion and lipid orchestration of secondary active transport | David Drew, Olga Boudker | David Drew, Olga Boudker | Stockholm University, Sweden | Nature | 41 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07062-3 |
| 18 | Homeocurvature adaptation of phospholipids to pressure in deep-sea invertebrates | Jacob R Winnikoff, Daniel Milshteyn, Sasiri J Vargas-Urbano, Miguel A Pedraza-Joya, Aaron M Armando, Oswald Quehenberger, Alexander Sodt, Richard E Gillilan, Edward A Dennis, Edward Lyman, Steven H D Haddock, Itay Budin | Jacob R. Winnikoff, Itay Budin | University of California San Diego, United States | Science | 41 | 10.1126/science.adm7607 |
| 19 | High-resolution electron cryomicroscopy of V-ATPase in native synaptic vesicles | Claire E Coupland, Ryan Karimi, Stephanie A Bueler, Yingke Liang, Gautier M Courbon, Justin M Di Trani, Cassandra J Wong, Rayan Saghian, Ji-Young Youn, Lu-Yang Wang, John L Rubinstein | John L. Rubinstein | The Hospital for Sick Children, Canada | Science | 41 | 10.1126/science.adp5577 |
| 20 | Sculpting conducting nanopore size and shape through de novo protein design | Samuel Berhanu, Sagardip Majumder, Thomas Müntener, James Whitehouse, Carolin Berner, Asim K Bera, Alex Kang, Binyong Liang, Nasir Khan, Banumathi Sankaran, Lukas K Tamm, David J Brockwell, Sebastian Hiller, Sheena E Radford, David Baker, Anastassia A Vorobieva | Samuel Berhanu, Sagardip Majumder, Thomas Müntener, James Whitehouse, David Baker, Anastassia A. Vorobieva | The University of Washington, United States | Science | 41 | 10.1126/science.adn3796 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

In the Class of 2026 for Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior, the literature is heavily anchored by innovations in nucleic acid delivery systems. Dominating the landscape are "Lipid nanoparticles" and "Ionizable lipids," underscoring a pronounced shift toward therapeutic applications. We see significant focus on "Messenger RNA delivery" and "Endosomal release", highlighting the mechanistic challenges of translating lipid membrane biology into functional mRNA therapeutics. Rather than pure biophysics, the most cited papers are bridging structural lipid chemistry with transfection efficiency and clinical utility. Topics like liposomes and liquid-liquid phase separation remain visible, providing foundational context to these delivery mechanisms.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparing the Class of 2025 to 2026 reveals a dramatic acceleration in translation-focused research. The largest structural shifts center on "mRNA therapeutics" and "Transfection efficiency," both of which surged from negligible baseline prominence in this specific highly-cited cohort to major focal points. We also observe substantial momentum in "Ionizable lipids" and "Messenger RNA delivery," demonstrating that the field is rapidly advancing beyond basic structural characterization into optimizing lipid architectures for endosomal escape. Interestingly, more traditional topics like basic "Liposomes" showed only modest growth compared to the explosive rise of specialized lipid nanoparticles, indicating a targeted evolution in how researchers leverage membrane behavior for advanced drug delivery.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/lipid-membrane-structure-and-behavior/2026. Accessed 2026-10-28.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```