No abstract

Well-defined multifunctional lipid-polymer conjugates as new tools for the functionalization of lipid assemblies.

Far-red emitting fluorescent lipid probes are desirable to label enveloped viruses, for their efficient tracking by optical microscopy inside autofluorescent cells. Most used probes are rapidly released from membranes, leading to fluorescence signal decay and loss of contrast. Here, water-soluble lipid-polymer probes are synthesized harboring hydrophilic or hydrophobic far-red emitting dyes, and exhibiting enhanced brightness. They efficiently label Hepatitis C Virus pseudotyped particles (HCVpp), more stably and reproducibly than commercial probes, and a strong fluorescence signal is observed with a high contrast. Labeling with such probes do not alter virion morphology, integrity, nor infectivity. Finally, it is shown by fluorescence microscopy that these probes enable efficient tracking of labeled HCVpp inside hepatocarcinoma cells used as model hepatocytes, in spite of their autofluorescence up to 700 nm. These novel fluorescent lipid-polymer probes should therefore enable a better characterization of early stages of infection of autofluorescent cells by enveloped viruses.

This contribution presents a new strategy for preparing nanocapsules with a shell made of a supramolecular polymer which repeating units are held together by reversible interactions rather than covalent bonds. These nanocapsules were prepared in classical miniemulsion through interfacial addition reaction of a diisocyanate (IPDI) and a monoamine (iBA), forming low-molecular weight bis-ureas moieties which are strong self-complementary interacting molecules through hydrogen-bonding. The nanocapsules present a diameter around 100 nm, and MALDI-TOF MS and (1)H NMR analyses confirm the expected molecular characteristics for the shell. This strategy opens the scope of a new type of nanomaterials exhibiting stimuli-responsiveness due to the reversible interaction linking the repeating units.

Fluorescent lipid‐polymer probes harbouring farred dyes are used by William Lacour and co‐workers to efficiently label enveloped viruses (Hepatitis C Virus) on page 2032. The labeled viral particles can be tracked by optical microscopy inside hepatocytes, their host cells, in spite of their autofluorescence up to 700 nm.