Lipogels: Single-Lipid-Bilayer-Enclosed Hydrogel Spheres
Qasim Saleem
Baoxu Liu
Claudiu C. Gradinaru
Peter M. Macdonald
10.1021/bm200266z.s001
https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Lipogels_Single_Lipid_Bilayer_Enclosed_Hydrogel_Spheres/2642833
We have fabricated Lipogels consisting of a single POPC lipid bilayer supported by a micrometer-sized, thermoresponsive, hydrophobically modified (HM), hydrogel sphere. The hydrogel consists of a lightly cross-linked poly(<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) core surrounded by a highly cross-linked acrylic acid (AA)-rich p(NIPAM-<i>co</i>-AA) shell. The lipid bilayer was assembled by binding liposomes to HM microgels, followed by several cycles of freeze–thaw. The pNIPAM volume phase transition (VPT) at ∼32 °C was present both before and after hydrophobic modification and after lipid bilayer coating. Fluorescence studies confirmed the fusion of liposomes into a continuous single bilayer. At a temperature above the VPT, it was found that the volume decrease in the hydrogel was coupled to the appearance of highly curved obtrusions of the uncompromised lipid bilayer into the surroundings. It is anticipated that these properties of Lipogels will prove to be useful in drug delivery applications and in fundamental biophysical studies of membranes.
2011-06-13 00:00:00
POPC lipid bilayer
hydrogel
VPT
uncompromised lipid bilayer
pNIPAM volume phase transition
lipid bilayer coating
volume decrease
lipid bilayer
HM microgels
AA
Fluorescence studies
Lipogel
drug delivery applications
binding liposomes