0000000000388023
AUTHOR
Francoise M. Winnik
Fluorescence studies of hydrophobically-modified poly(N-isopropylacrylamides) or how to play accordion on a liposome
The coil/globule transition of polymers in solution is a favourite topic of discussion among polymer theoreticians. Here, this phenomenon is used to play a “molecular accordion” built with a thermosensitive polymer anchored to liposomes, a tune which mimics a natural process occuring in cell membranes.
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 …