A photomodulatable amphiphilic polymer has been synthesized with a backbone of poly[isobutylene-alt-maleic anhydride] and pendant dodecyl alkyl chains, Lucifer Yellow (LY) fluorescent probes, and diheteroarylethenes photochromic (PC) groups. The latter serve as reversible UV-activated FRET acceptors for the LY donors. We characterized the spectral and switching properties of the polymer in an o...

It is already more than a century since the pioneering work of the Nobel Laureate Ehrlich gave birth to the side chain theory 2 which helped to define antibodies and their ability to target specific biological sites. However, the use of antibodies is still restricted to the extracellular space due to the lack of a suitable delivery vehicle for the efficient transport of antibodies into live cel...

Mutations in parkin cause autosomal recessive Parkinsonism and mitochondrial defects. A recent drug screen identified a class of steroid-like hydrophobic compounds able to rescue mitochondrial function in parkin-mutant fibroblasts. Whilst these possess therapeutic potential, the size and high hydrophobicity of some may limit their ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier from systemic circu...

BACKGROUND Microscopic techniques enable real-space imaging of complex biological events and processes. They have become an essential tool to confirm and complement hypotheses made by biomedical scientists and also allow the re-examination of existing models, hence influencing future investigations. Particularly imaging live cells is crucial for an improved understanding of dynamic biological p...

A DPD model of PEO-based block copolymer vesicles in water is developed by introducing a new density based coarse graining and by using experimental data for interfacial tension. Simulated as a membrane patch, the DPD model is in excellent agreement with experimental data for both the area expansion modulus and the scaling of hydrophobic core thickness with molecular weight. Rupture simulations...

Multilamellar membranes are important building blocks for constructing self-assembled structures with improved barrier properties, such as multilamellar lipid vesicles. Polymeric vesicles (polymersomes) have attracted growing interest, but multilamellar polymersomes are much less explored. Here, we report the formation of polypeptide vesicles with unprecedented densely packed multilayer membran...

Polymer vesicles, or polymersomes, attract increasingly growing interest due to the various applications ranging from cosmetics to drug delivery. At DWI a novel concept of polymersome fabrication based on non-stoichiometric complexation of a polybase with an amphiphilic ligand bearing a sulfonic acid group has been developed. The structure of the complex in the vesicles was found to be similar ...