Cell‐Derived Vesicles with Increased Stability and On‐Demand Functionality by Equipping Their Membrane with a Cross‐Linkable Copolymer

Abstract

Cell‐derived vesicles retain the cytoplasm and much of the native cell membrane composition. Therefore, they are attractive for investigations of membrane biophysics, drug delivery systems, and complex molecular factories. However, their fragility and aggregation limit their applications. Here, the mechanical properties and stability of giant plasma membrane vesicles (GPMVs) are enhanced by decorating them with a specifically designed diblock copolymer, cholesteryl‐poly[2‐aminoethyl methacrylate‐b‐poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate]. When cross‐linked, this polymer brush enhances the stability of the GPMVs. Furthermore, the pH‐responsiveness of the copolymer layer allows for a controlled cargo loading/release, which may enable various bioapplications. Importantly, the cross‐linked‐copolymer GPMVs are not cytotoxic and preserve in vitro membrane integrity and functionality. This effective strategy to equip the cell‐derived vesicles with stimuli‐responsive cross‐linkable copolymers is expected to open a new route to the stabilization of natural membrane systems and overcome barriers to biomedical applications.

Fabrication of polymeric microspheres for biomedical applications

“…305 As a simplified model, artificial cells enable a better understanding of the cellular functions and the origin of life, which can accelerate the development of biomedical applications such as disease therapy and tissue regeneration. 306 According to their composition and structure, they have been classified into lipid vesicles, 307 polymer vesicles, [308][309][310] hybrid vesicles, [311][312][313] and vesicles made of cell membrane-derived native materials (e.g., proteo-liposomes with extracted membrane proteins). 314,315 In this part, we focus on artificial cells constructed by giant vesicles which are made of polymers, whose size is in the micrometer-scale and is comparable to natural cells.…”

Specific capture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa for rapid detection of antimicrobial resistance in urinary tract infections

“…The viability of nHDFs from the negative control was set as 100%, and the one that interacted with 1% Triton X-100 in DMEM containing 5% FCS was considered as the positive control. The viability of the nHDFs was analyzed through MTS [(3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2Htetrazolium)] assay at the absorbance 490 nm to measure metabolic activity of the nHDFs (Jin et al, 2013;Solar et al, 2015;Pan et al, 2022c;Huang et al, 2022).…”

Formation of giant plasma membrane vesicles for biological and medical applications: a review

“…Palivan enhanced the mechanical properties and stability of GPMVs by modifying them with a specially designed diblock copolymer, cholesteryl-poly[2-aminoethyl methacrylate- b -poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate]. 20 In addition, the pH responsiveness of the copolymer layer allows controlled cargo loading and release (Fig. 3B).…”

“…But there are also some problems that need to be solved, such as leakage when loading small molecules. 20 Programmed methods for loading cargoes also need to be developed.…”