Macromolecular Crowding as an Intracellular Stimulus for Responsive Nanomaterials.

ABSTRACT: Stimuli-responsive materials are exploited in biological, materials, and sensing applications. We introduce a new endogenous stimulus, biomacromolecule crowding, which we achieve by leveraging changes in thermoresponsive properties of polymers upon high concentrations of crowding agents. We prepare poly(2-oxazoline) amphiphiles that exhibit lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) in serum above physiological temperature. These amphiphiles stabilize oil-in-water nanoemulsions at temperatures below the LCST but are ineffective surfactants above the LCST, resulting in emulsion fusion. We find that the transformations observed upon heating nanoemulsions above their surfactant's LCST can instead be induced at physiological temperatures through the addition of polymers and protein, rendering

SUBMITTER: Estabrook DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9583728 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature