Polymeric monolayers and liposomes as models for biomembranes

Polymer chemists as poachers in foreign grounds? Why not? Macromolecular chemistry has become a mature science with all advantages and handicaps of a well-established scientific discipline: many heights are conquerred and the harvest is abundant, but adventures and the future might be elsewhere. Besides, in these times of bottomed out industrial profits in common plastics, future polymer chemistry cannot be limited to repetitive improvement of already successful mass polymers but should rather expand into neighboring fields of material science as well as life science where “polymer thinking” might help to overcome difficulties. — First hesitant steps on the bridge towards membrane biology h…

Different polymeric transport systems for biologically active substances are presented. In the past, most of the reviews on polymeric drugs dealt with pharmaca, fixed to conventional water-soluble polymers. Naturally occuring transport proteins with their complex features have recently been imitated by micellar solubilized polymers. Polymerized liposomes from polymerizable lipids can be regarded as vesicular solubilized polymers and are discussed as stable models for biomembranes. By insertion of glycolipids, these liposomes are rendered susceptible to specific recognition by proteins. When natural or cleavable synthetic lipids are incorporated into polymerizable membranes, phase-separation…