0000000000278168
AUTHOR
Anja Kroeger
Detergent Properties Influence the Stability of the Glycophorin A Transmembrane Helix Dimer in Lysophosphatidylcholine Micelles
AbstractDetergents might affect membrane protein structures by promoting intramolecular interactions that are different from those found in native membrane bilayers, and fine-tuning detergent properties can be crucial for obtaining structural information of intact and functional transmembrane proteins. To systematically investigate the influence of the detergent concentration and acyl-chain length on the stability of a transmembrane protein structure, the stability of the human glycophorin A transmembrane helix dimer has been analyzed in lyso-phosphatidylcholine micelles of different acyl-chain length. While our results indicate that the transmembrane protein is destabilized in detergents w…
Reversible Photocycloadditions, a Powerful Tool for Tailoring (Nano)Materials
Molecularly designed materials are increasingly attracting attention not only because of the variety of their applications but also due to the challenging strategies necessary for their design and synthesis. Highly complex and functional (nano)materials are obtained by exploiting simple tools and concepts from different disciplines, introducing the desired properties into the final product. It is shown that by combining fundaments from organic chemistry, polymer and materials science, photoresponsive nanoparticles are easily generated, and how responsiveness is achieved by exploiting photocycloadditions, which are extremely selective, react in good yields without the formation of side produ…
Redox-Responsive Block Copolymers: Poly(vinylferrocene)-b-poly(lactide) Diblock and Miktoarm Star Polymers and Their Behavior in Solution
The synthesis of diblock and miktoarm star polymers containing poly(vinylferrocene) (PVFc) and poly(l-lactide) (PLA) blocks is introduced. End functionalization of PVFc was carried out via end capping of living carbanionic PVFc chains with benzyl glycidyl ether (BGE). By hydrogenolysis of the benzyl protecting group a dihydroxyl end-functionalized PVFc was obtained. Both monohydroxyl- and dihydroxyl-functionalized PVFcs have been utilized as macroinitiators for the subsequent polymerization of l-lactide via catalytic ring-opening polymerization. A series of block copolymers and AB2 miktoarm star polymers was synthesized with varied PLA chain lengths. All polymers were characterized in detai…