Polymeric vesicles with topologically controlled functionalities

我们在这里提出了一个自然启发的“自下而上”设计的例子，可以提供突出的优势，在分子水平上的工程结构的基础上相同的长期/研究的生物结构的原则。我们使用的合成材料被称为共聚物，使我们能够设计出非常坚固的结构，尺寸为数百纳米（比人类头发小1000倍）。由共聚物形成的这些结构中最简单的是囊泡。这是一种球形聚集体，由半渗透膜包围的水核组成。这些纳米球已经被用于封装药物和其他分子。然后将这些药物输送到身体的特定部位，以最大限度地减少药物副作用。在这里，我们希望通过研究产生具有补丁表面的囊泡的可能性来进一步扩展分子水平的控制。这些补丁将允许特定功能的本地化。特别是，我们提出了两种不同的直接应用：囊泡与控制孔隙度和自运动囊泡。在前者中，贴片将允许受控的降解和在囊泡膜中形成稳定的孔。在后者中，我们将产生具有不对称分布的官能团的囊泡。这些随后将用于连接分子马达。这将是设计自推进纳米粒子的第一次尝试。

We present here an example of nature-inspired 'bottom-up' design that can offer outstanding advantages for engineering structures at a molecular level based on the same long/studied principles of biological structures. We use synthetic materials know as copolymers that have allowed us the design of very robust structures with sizes of hundreds of nanometers (1000 times smaller than human hair). The simplest among these structures formed by copolymers is the vesicle. This is spherical aggregate made of a water core surrounded by a semi-permeable membrane. These nano-spheres have already been used for encapsulating drugs and other molecules. These are then delivered to specific parts of the body so as to minimize drug side-effects. Here we want to expand further the molecular level control by studying the possibility of generating vesicles with patched surfaces. These patches will allow the localization of specific functionalities. Particularly, we present two different immediate applications: vesicles with controlled porosity and self-motile vesicles. In the former, the patches will allow the controlled degradation and formation of stable pores into the vesicles membranes. In the latter, we will generate vesicles with an asymmetric distribution of functional groups. These will subsequently used for attaching molecular motors. This will be the first attempt for designing self-propelled nano-particles.