Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 20(119), 2022

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2122468119

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Increased efficiency of charge-mediated fusion in polymer/lipid hybrid membranes

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Significance The discovery that amphiphilic polymers, similar to phospholipids, can self-assemble to vesicles has inspired numerous applications. For instance, these polymersomes are employed for drug delivery due to their increased chemical and mechanical stability. These polymers can be also mixed with lipids to form the so-called hybrid membranes, which provide further biocompatibility, while new properties emerge. However, the fusion of these hybrids is to date barely explored. Herein, we determined that hybrid vesicles made of poly(dimethylsiloxane)-graft-poly(ethylene oxide) and oppositely charged lipids undergo rapid fusion, surpassing the efficiency in natural membranes. We provide biophysical insights into the mechanism and demonstrate that anionic lipids are not strictly required when the process is employed for the integration of membrane proteins.