Chemical analysis in nanoscale surfactant networks.
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Biomimetic Materials↗
Biomedical subjects
Aldo Jesorka
Publications and source records attributed to Aldo Jesorka.
Controlled hydrogel formation in the internal compartment of giant unilamellar vesicles.
The introduction of poly(ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT)/poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) polyelectrolyte into giant unilamellar phospholipid vesicles (GUVs) and cross-linking with Ca2+ ions to generate a hydrogel within the internal compartment are reported. The aqueous colloidal suspension of PEDOT with excess PSS was microinjected into the internal compartment of liposomes as well as networks of GUVs and lipid nanotubes. The subsequent introduction of calcium ions as cross-linking agent in order to induce hydrogel formation was achieved by three different methods: vesicle fusion, electroporation, and direct microinjection. Gel formation was probed by coinjection of fluorescent nanoparticles and tracking of Brownian motion. Particle mobility was shown to be distinctly reduced in the gel-filled vesicles. Diffusion constants for the particles were calculated from the projected movement of the particles and compared to particles in reference gels and solutions.
Letter↗
Controlling the internal structure of giant unilamellar vesicles by means of reversible temperature dependent sol-gel transition of internalized poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide).
In this work, we present preparation and basic applications of lipid-bilayer-enclosed picoliter volumes (microcontainers) of solutions of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm). Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) were prepared from phospholipids using a standard swelling procedure and subsequently surface immobilized. Clear, slightly viscous solutions of PNIPAAm of varying concentration in aqueous buffer were directly pressure-microinjected into the GUVs, using a submicrometer-sized, pointed capillary. The GUV was subjected to changing temperature over a 21-40 degrees C range. The typical phase transition of the polymeric material upon heating and cooling across the lower critical solution temperature was followed using optical microscopy and shown to be reversible over multiple sequential heating/cooling cycles without compromising the integrity of the GUV membrane. Fluorescent, carboxylic acid modified 200 nm latex beads, co-injected with the PNIPAAm solution, were temperature-reversibly immobilized during the phase transition, practically freezing the Brownian motion of the entrapped particles in the volume. Furthermore, a co-injected water soluble fluorescent polysaccharide-dye conjugate was shown not to migrate from the aqueous phase into the hydrophobic polymer part upon heating, whereas the fluorescent beads were completely but reversibly immobilized in the hydrophobic domains of dense polymer agglomerates. The system reported here provides a feasible method for the reversible stabilization and solidification of GUV interior volumes, e.g., as a micrometer-sized model system for controlled drug release.
Journal Article↗
Biomimetic nanoscale reactors and networks.
Methods based on self-assembly, self-organization, and forced shape transformations to form synthetic or semisynthetic enclosed lipid bilayer structures with several properties similar to biological nanocompartments are reviewed. The procedures offer unconventional micro- and nanofabrication routes to yield complex soft-matter devices for a variety of applications for example, in physical chemistry and nanotechnology. In particular, we describe novel micromanipulation methods for producing fluid-state lipid bilayer networks of nanotubes and surface-immobilized vesicles with controlled geometry, topology, membrane composition, and interior contents. Mass transport in nanotubes and materials exchange, for example, between conjugated containers, can be controlled by creating a surface tension gradient that gives rise to a moving boundary or by induced shape transformations. The network devices can operate with extremely small volume elements and low mass, to the limit of single molecules and particles at a length scale where a continuum mechanics approximation may break down. Thus, we also describe some concepts of anomalous fluctuation-dominated kinetics and anomalous diffusive behaviours, including hindered transport, as they might become important in studying chemistry and transport phenomena in these confined systems. The networks are suitable for initiating and controlling chemical reactions in confined biomimetic compartments for rationalizing, for example, enzyme behaviors, as well as for applications in nanofluidics, bioanalytical devices, and to construct computational and complex sensor systems with operations building on chemical kinetics, coupled reactions and controlled mass transport.
Biological Transport↗
Heteroleptic Lanthanide Complexes with Aryloxide Ligands. Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Divalent and Trivalent Samarium Aryloxide/Halide and Aryloxide/Cyclopentadienide Complexes.
Synthesis of a new class of heteroleptic samarium aryloxide complexes has been achieved by the use of homoleptic samarium(II) bis(aryloxide) Sm(OAr)(2)(THF)(3) (1, Ar = C(6)H(2)Bu(t)(2)-2,6-Me-4) as a starting material, which is easily obtained by reaction of Sm(N(SiMe(3))(2))(2)(THF)(2) with 2 equiv of ArOH in THF. 1 reacts with 1 equiv of SmI(2) in THF to give Sm(II) mixed aryloxide/iodide [(ArO)Sm(&mgr;-I)(THF)(3)](2) (2), which adopts a dimeric structure via very weak Sm.I (3.534(2) Å) interactions. Reaction of 2 with C(5)Me(5)K in THF/HMPA affords the corresponding Sm(II) aryloxide/cyclopentadienide (C(5)Me(5))Sm(OAr)(HMPA)(2) (3). Oxidation of 1 with 0.5 equiv of I(2) in THF gives monomeric samarium(III) aryloxide/iodide (ArO)(2)SmI(THF)(2) (4), while the similar reaction of 1 with ClCH(2)CH(2)Cl or (t)BuCl in THF affords dimeric samarium(III) aryloxide/chloride [(ArO)(2)Sm(&mgr;-Cl)(THF)](2) (5). Crystal data for 1: monoclinic, space group P2(1), a = 9.903(3) Å, b = 16.718(5) Å, c = 13.267(2) Å, beta = 95.17(2) degrees, V = 2187(2) Å(3), Z = 2, D(c) = 1.223 g cm(-)(3), R = 0.0634. Crystal data for 2.2THF: monoclinic, space group P2(1)/a, a = 18.330(6) Å, b = 14.320(4) Å, c = 13.949(3) Å, beta = 103.16(2) degrees, V = 3563(2) Å(3), Z = 2, D(c) = 1.46 g cm(-)(3), R = 0.0606. Crystal data for 3: triclinic, space group P&onemacr;, a = 10.528(1) Å, b = 12.335(2) Å, c = 19.260(2) Å, alpha = 101.33(1) degrees, beta = 95.230(9) degrees, gamma = 108.54(1) degrees, V = 2293.1(5) Å(3), Z = 2, D(c) = 1.25 g cm(-)(3), R = 0.0358. Crystal data for 4: monoclinic, space group C2/c, a = 17.191(7) Å, b = 10.737(6) Å, c = 21.773(7) Å, beta = 98.80(3) degrees, V = 3971(3) Å(3), Z = 4, D(c) = 1.44 g cm(-)(3), R = 0.0467. Crystal data for 5: monoclinic, space group P2(1)/n, a = 13.750(3) Å, b = 17.231(3) Å, c = 14.973(6) Å, beta = 95.81(2) degrees, V = 3529(2) Å(3), Z = 2, D(c) = 1.31 g cm(-)(3), R = 0.0557.
Journal Article↗