Macromolecular Rapid Communicatons 2009-11

Supramolecular Network Based on the Self-Assembly of g-Cyclodextrin with Poly(ethylene glycol) and its Shape Memory Effect
Min-Min Fan, Zhi-Jun Yu, Hai-Ya Luo, Sheng Zhang,* Bang-jing Li*

Especially for Ke....

25 YEARS of Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research - Lots of good stuff in this issue (see below)

2 Articles for membrane people:

Toy amphiphiles on the computer: What can we learn from generic models? (p 741-751)
Friederike Schmid
Mesoscopic Membrane Physics: Concepts, Simulations, and Selected Applications (p 752-771)
Markus Deserno

For surface people:
Nonfouling Polypeptide Brushes via Surface-initiated Polymerization of N-oligo(ethylene glycol)succinate-L-lysine N-carboxyanhydride (p 845-850)
Jing Wang, Matthew I. Gibson, Raphaël Barbey, Shou-Jun Xiao, Harm-Anton Klok
Optical Waveguide Spectroscopy for the Investigation of Protein-Functionalized Hydrogel Films (p 872-877)
Alena Aulasevich, Robert F. Roskamp, Ulrich Jonas, Bernhard Menges, Jakub Dostálek, Wolfgang Knoll

Nature, No. 7245.

Self-assembly of DNA into nanoscale three-dimensional shapes

Shawn M. Douglas, Hendrik Dietz, Tim Liedl, Björn Högberg, Franziska Graf & William M. Shih, p. 414

Nature Chemical Biology 5, 383 - 390 (2009) Published online: 15 May 2009 | doi:10.1038/nchembio.181

Force probing surfaces of living cells to molecular resolution

Daniel J Müller¹, Jonne Helenius¹, David Alsteens² & Yves F Dufrêne²


Biological processes rely on molecular interactions that can be directly measured using force spectroscopy techniques. Here we review how atomic force microscopy can be applied to force probe surfaces of living cells to single-molecule resolution. Such probing of individual interactions can be used to map cell surface receptors, and to assay the receptors' functional states, binding kinetics and landscapes. This information provides unique insight into how cells structurally and functionally modulate the molecules of their surfaces to interact with the cellular environment.

The relationship between the antimicrobial effect of catheter coatings containing silver nanoparticles and the coagulation of contacting blood

Kris N.J. Stevens, Olga Crespo-Biel, Edith E.M. van den Bosch, Aylvin A. Dias, Menno L.W. Knetsch, Yvette B.J. Aldenhoff, Frederik H. van der Veen, Jos G. Maessen, Ellen E. Stobberingh, Leo H. Koole
Fig. 8. (a) Platelets adhered to a Sil catheter. The platelets have a spread dendritic morphology. (b) Dendritic platelets adhered to a PVC catheter.

Biomaterials Volume 30, Issue 22, August 2009, Pages 3637-3644

Cell attachment functionality of bioactive conducting polymers for neural interfaces

Rylie A. Green, Nigel H. Lovell, Laura A. Poole-Warren



Fig. 12. Oxidation and reduction behaviour of conducting polymers are dependent on dopant size. Small anion A⁻ is able to migrate in and out of the PPy matrix to balance the charge across the backbone. Large anion B⁻ is immobilised within the PPy matrix and hence relies on smaller cation X⁺ to migrate into the polymer from the surrounding electrolyte and maintain charge balance across the polymer.

Biochemistry 2009, 48, 3977–3987

Cholesterol Exposure at the Membrane Surface Is Necessary and Sufficient
to Trigger Perfringolysin O Binding
John J. Flanagan, Rodney K. Tweten, Arthur E. Johnson, and Alejandro P. Heuck*

J. Phys. Chem. B 2009, 113, 7059–7063

Template-Assisted Generation of Nanocavities within Plasma Polymer Films
Krasimir Vasilev, Ana Casanal, Hela Challougui, and Hans J. Griesser

J. Phys. Chem B 2009, 113, 7041–7044

Hydrogen Bonding in ortho-Substituted Arylamides: The Influence of Protic Solvents
Zhiwei Liu, Richard C. Remsing, Dahui Liu, Guillermo Moyna, and Vojislava Pophristic

J. Phys. Chem. B 2009, 113, 7681–7686

High-Speed Vibrational Imaging and Spectral Analysis of Lipid Bodies by Compound
Raman Microscopy
Mikhail N. Slipchenko, Thuc T. Le, Hongtao Chen, and Ji-Xin Cheng

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1788 (2009) 1523–1533

Membrane perturbation by the antimicrobial peptide PMAP-23: A fluorescence and
molecular dynamics study
Barbara Orioni , Gianfranco Bocchinfuso, Jin Young Kim, Antonio Palleschi, Giacinto Grande,
Sara Bobone, Yoonkyung Park, Jae Il Kim, Kyung-soo Hahm, Lorenzo Stella⁎

organic letters, 2009, 11, 1801

One-Pot Double Suzuki-Miyaura Couplings: Rapid Access to Nonsymmetrical Tri(hetero)aryl Derivatives

Floriane Beaumard, Philippe Dauban,* and Robert H. Dodd*

new journal of chemistry, 2009, 33,902

Metallo-gels and organo-gels with tripodal cyclotriveratrylene-type and 1,3,5-substituted benzene-type ligands
Aleema Westcott, Christopher J. Sumby, Richard D. Walshaw and Michaele J. Hardie

new journal of chemistry, 2009, 33, 1070

Metal–organic gels as functionalisable supports for catalysis

Jianyong Zhang,*a Xiaobing Wang,a Lisi He,a Liuping Chen,a Cheng-Yong Suaand Stuart L. Jamesb

Nature Materials 8, 507 - 511 (2009)

Templated formation of giant polymer vesicles with controlled size distributions

Abstract:

Unilamellar polymer vesicles are formed when a block copolymer self-assembles to form a single bilayer structure, with a hydrophobic core and hydrophilic surfaces, and the resulting membrane folds over and rearranges by connecting its edges to enclose a space. The physics of self-assembly tightly specifies the wall thickness of the resulting vesicle, but, both for polymer vesicles and phospholipids, no mechanism strongly selects for the overall size, so the size distribution of vesicles tends to be very polydisperse. We report a method for the production of controlled size distributions of micrometre-sized (that is, giant) vesicles combining the 'top-down' control of micrometre-sized features (vesicle diameter) by photolithography and dewetting with the 'bottom-up' control of nanometre-sized features (membrane thickness) by molecular self-assembly. It enables the spontaneous creation of unilamellar vesicles with a narrow size distribution that could find applications in drug and gene delivery, nano- and micro-reactors, substrates for macromolecular crystallography and model systems for studies of membrane function.

Nature Materials 8, 457 - 470 (2009) : REVIEW

Complexity in biomaterials for tissue engineering

Abstract:

The molecular and physical information coded within the extracellular milieu is informing the development of a new generation of biomaterials for tissue engineering. Several powerful extracellular influences have already found their way into cell-instructive scaffolds, while others remain largely unexplored. Yet for commercial success tissue engineering products must be not only efficacious but also cost-effective, introducing a potential dichotomy between the need for sophistication and ease of production. This is spurring interest in recreating extracellular influences in simplified forms, from the reduction of biopolymers into short functional domains, to the use of basic chemistries to manipulate cell fate. In the future these exciting developments are likely to help reconcile the clinical and commercial pressures on tissue engineering.

ACS Nano, 2009, 3 (5), pp 1063–1068

Quantum Dot−Block Copolymer Hybrids with Improved Properties and Their Application to Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Devices

Abstract:

To combine the optical properties of CdSe@ZnS quantum dots (QDs) with the electrical properties of semiconducting polymers, we prepared QD/polymer hybrids by grafting a block copolymer (BCP) containing thiol-anchoring moieties (poly(para-methyl triphenylamine-b-cysteamine acrylamide)) onto the surfaces of QDs through the ligand exchange procedure. The prepared QD/polymer hybrids possess improved processability such as enhanced solubility in various organic solvents as well as the film formation properties along with the improved colloidal stability derived from the grafted polymer shells. We also demonstrated light-emitting diodes based on QD/polymer hybrids, exhibiting the improved device performance (i.e., 3-fold increase in the external quantum efficiency) compared with the devices prepared by pristine (unmodified) QDs.

ACS Nano, 2009, 3 (5), pp 1057–1062

Functionalized Few-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Mechanical Reinforcement of Polymeric Composites

Abstract:

Compared to single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and more defective multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), the thin few-walled carbon nanotubes (FWNTs) are believed to have extraordinary mechanical properties. However, the enhancement of mechanical properties in FWNTs-polymer composites has remained elusive. In this study, free-standing carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/polymer composite films were fabricated with three types (SWNTs, FWNTs, MWNTs) of functionalized CNTs. The mechanical properties of composite films have been investigated. It is observed that the Young’s modulus of composite films with only 0.2 wt % functionalized FWNTs shows a remarkable reinforcement value of dY/dV_f = 1658 GPa, which is 400 GPa higher than the highest value (dY/dV_f = 1244 GPa) that was previously reported. In addition, the Young’s modulus increased steadily with the increased concentration of FWNTs. The results indicated that FWNTs are practically the optimum reinforcing filler for the next generation of carbon nanotube-based composite materials.