Royal Society of Chemistry, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 4(12), p. 600-606, 2014
DOI: 10.1039/c3ob41893f
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This article describes light-responsive vesicles that can release their contents in response to a light-sensitive molecular trigger. To this end, liposomes were equipped with amphiphilic β-cyclodextrin that was covalently labeled with azobenzene. Using dye encapsulation and confocal laser scanning microscopy, we show that the permeability of these vesicles strongly increases upon UV irradiation (λ = 350 nm) with concomitant isomerization of apolar trans-azobenzene to polar cis-azobenzene on the liposome surface.