Macromolecular Crowding as an Intracellular Stimulus for Responsive Nanomaterials

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Daniel A. Estabrook - , University of California at Los Angeles (Author)
  • John O. Chapman - , University of California at Los Angeles (Author)
  • Shuo Ting Yen - , Chair of Tissue Dynamics, University of California at Santa Barbara (Author)
  • Helen H. Lin - , University of California at Los Angeles (Author)
  • Ethan T. Ng - , University of California at Los Angeles (Author)
  • Linglan Zhu - , University of California at Los Angeles (Author)
  • Heidi L. Van De Wouw - , University of California at Los Angeles (Author)
  • Otger Campàs - , Chair of Tissue Dynamics, Clusters of Excellence PoL: Physics of Life, University of California at Santa Barbara (Author)
  • Ellen M. Sletten - , University of California at Los Angeles (Author)

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 thermoresponsive materials "crowding responsive."We demonstrate that the cytosol is a stimulus for nanoemulsions, with droplet fusion occurring upon injection into cells of living zebrafish embryos. This report sets the stage for classes of thermoresponsive materials to respond to macromolecule concentration rather than temperature changes.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)16792-16798
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume144
Issue number37
Publication statusPublished - 21 Sept 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 36084194