Polysaccharide functionalization reduces lipid vesicle stiffness

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Jahnke, Kevin; Pavlovic, Marko; Xu, Wentao; Chen, Anqi; Knowles, Tuomas P. J.; Arriaga, Laura R.; Weitz, David A.
• 署名单位: Harvard University; University of Cambridge; Autonomous University of Madrid; Autonomous University of Madrid; Harvard University; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-13695
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2317227121
• 发表日期: 2024-05-28
• 关键词: diffusion; MODEL; cholesterol; membranes; tension

摘要

The biophysical properties of lipid vesicles are important for their stability and integrity, key parameters that control the performance when these vesicles are used for drug delivery. The vesicle properties are determined by the composition of lipids used to form the vesicle. However, for a given lipid composition, they can also be tailored by tethering polymers to the membrane. Typically, synthetic polymers like polyethyleneglycol are used to increase vesicle stability, but the use of polysaccharides in this context is much less explored. Here, we report a general method for functionalizing lipid vesicles with polysaccharides by binding them to cholesterol. We incorporate the polysaccharides on the outer membrane leaflet of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) and investigate their effect on membrane mechanics using micropipette aspiration. We find that the presence of the glycolipid functionalization produces an unexpected softening of GUVs with fluid -like membranes. By contrast, the functionalization of GUVs with polyethylene glycol does not reduce their stretching modulus. This work provides the potential means to study membrane -bound meshworks of polysaccharides similar to the cellular glycocalyx; moreover, it can be used for tuning the mechanical properties of drug delivery vehicles.