Snap-together vesicles

Reaction kinetics in dense two-dimensional polymer solutions : an excimer probe study

We report measurements of the time dependent reaction rate of excimer formation in two-dimensional solutions of a polymerized amphiphile with partially pyrene-labelled chains in monolayers at the air-water-interface. We find a time dependent reaction rate for excimer formation obeying a power law r(t) ∞ t -β . The exponent β has a value of 0.22±0.12. This value is consistent with β=1/4, as has been predicted for bimolecular diffusion-controlled reactions in two-dimensional polymer melts by de Gennes. The measurements demonstrate the usefulness of the excimer technique to explore polymer dynamics

Neural cell pattern formation on glass and oxidized silicon surfaces modified with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)

Control over the adsorption of proteins and over the adsorption and spatial orientation of mammalian cells onto surfaces has been achieved by modification of glass and other silicon oxide substrates with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM). The functionalization of the substrates was achieved either by a polymer-analogous reaction of aminosilanes with reactive N-(isopropylacrylamide) (NIPAM)-copolymers and by copolymerization of NIPAM with surface-bound methacrylsilane. The obtained coatings were characterized by FT-1R, ellipsometry, and surface plasmon resonance measurements. The adsorption of two proteins-fibrinogen and ribonuclease A-on these surfaces was studied in situ by real time su…

Interactions of liposomes and hydrophobically-modified poly-(N-isopropylacrylamides): an attempt to model the cytoskeleton

The interactions of small unilamellar vesicles (SUV) and water-soluble copolymers were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS). The anchoring onto liposomal bilayer membranes of copolymers of N-isopropylacrylamide, N-(2-(1-naphthyl)ethyl)-N-n-octadecylacrylamide and or N-[4-(1-pyrenyl)butyl]-N-n-octadecylacrylamide (0.5 mol% of the octadecylacrylamide comonomer) was monitored by non-radiative energy transfer between excited naphthalene and pyrene. The anchoring process occurred on zwitterionic lecithin liposomes and on negatively charged phosphatidic acid liposomes, whether the bilayer was in the crystalline or …