Self-assembled carbohydrate-based vesicles for lectin targeting.

This study examined the physicochemical interactions between vesicles formed by phosphatidylcholine (PC) and glycosylated polymeric amphiphile N-acetyl-ß-d-glucosaminyl-PEG900-docosanate (C22PEG900GlcNAc) conjugated with Bauhinia variegata lectin (BVL). Lectins are proteins or glycoproteins capable of binding glycosylated membrane components. Accordingly, the surface functionalization by such entities is considered a potential strategy for targeted drug delivery. We observed increased hydrodynamic radii (RH) of PC+C22PEG900GlcNAc vesicles in the presence of lectins, suggesting that this aggregation was due to the interaction between lectins and the vesicular glycosylated surfaces. Furthermore, changes in the zeta potential of the vesicles with increasing lectin concentrations implied that the vesicular glycosylated surfaces were recognized by the investigated lectin. The presence of carbohydrate residues on vesicle surfaces and the ability of the vesicles to establish specific interactions with BVL were further explored using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis. The results indicated that the thickness of the hydrophilic layer was to some extent influenced by the presence of lectins. The presence of lectins required a higher degree of polydispersity as indicated by the width parameter of the log-normal distribution of size, which also suggested more irregular structures. Reflectance Fourier transform infrared (HATR-FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis.) analyses revealed that the studied lectin preferentially interacted with the choline and carbonyl groups of the lipid, thereby changing the choline orientation and intermolecular interactions. The protein also discretely reduced the intermolecular communication of the hydrophobic acyl chains, resulting in a disordered state.

Electroformation of Giant Unilamellar Vesicles: Investigating Vesicle Fusion versus Bulge Merging.

Partially ordered stacks of phospholipid bilayers on a flat substrate can be obtained by the evaporation of a spread droplet of phospholipid-in-chloroform solution. When exposed to an aqueous buffer, numerous micrometric buds populate the bilayers, grow in size over minutes, and eventually detach, forming the so-called liposomes or vesicles. While observation of vesicle growth from a hydrated lipid film under an optical microscope suggests numerous events of vesicle fusion, there is little experimental evidence for discriminating between merging of connected buds, i.e., a shape transformation that does not imply bilayer fusion and real membrane fusion. Here, we use electroformation to grow giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) from a stack of lipids in a buffer containing either (i) nanometric liposomes or (ii) previously prepared GUVs. By combining different fluorescent labels of the lipids in the substrate and in the solution, and by performing a fluorescence analysis of the resulting GUVs, we clearly demonstrate that merging of bulges is the essential pathway for vesicle growth in electroformation.

Interaction of jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) urease and a derived peptide with lipid vesicles.

Ureases are metalloenzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and carbon dioxide. Jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) produces three isoforms of urease (Canatoxin, JBU and JBURE-II). Canatoxin and JBU display several biological properties independent of their ureolytic activity, such as neurotoxicity, exocytosis-inducing and pro-inflammatory effects, blood platelets activation, insecticidal and antifungal activities. The Canatoxin entomotoxic activity is mostly due to an internal peptide, named pepcanatox, released upon the hydrolysis of the protein by insect cathepsin-like digestive enzymes. Based on pepcanatox sequence, Jaburetox-2Ec was produced in Escherichia coli. JBU and its peptides were shown to permeabilize membranes through an ion channel-based mechanism. Here we studied the JBU and Jaburetox-2Ec interaction with platelet-like multilamellar liposomes (PML) using Dynamic Light Scattering and Small Angle X-ray Scattering techniques. We also analyzed the interaction of JBU with giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) using Fluorescence Microscopy. The interaction of vesicles with JBU led to a slight reduction of hydrodynamic radius, and caused an increase in the lamellar repeat distance of PML, suggesting a membrane disordering effect. In contrast, Jaburetox-2Ec decreased the lamellar repeat distance of PML membranes, while also diminishing their hydrodynamic radius. Fluorescence microscopy showed that the interaction of GUVs with JBU caused membrane perturbation with formation of tethers. In conclusion, JBU can interact with PML, probably by inserting its Jaburetox "domain" into the PML external membrane. Additionally, the interaction of Jaburetox-2Ec affects the vesicle's internal bilayers and hence causes more drastic changes in the PML membrane organization in comparison with JBU.

New glycosylated conjugate copolymer N-acetyl-ß-D-glucosaminyl-pluronic: Synthesis, self-assembly and biological assays.

This work describes the synthesis of a new glycosylated conjugate copolymer, GlcNAc-PEO75-PPO30-PEO75-GlcNAc (GlcNAc-PluronicF68-GlcNAc), using click chemistry from Pluronic(®) F68 and propargyl-2-N-acetamido-2-deoxy-ß-D-glucopyranoside. Micelles were prepared by the self-assembly of GlcNAc-PluronicF68-GlcNAc in phosphate-buffered solution. The critical micelle concentration was determined by fluorescence spectroscopy, and the value was found to be equal to 5.8mgmL(-1). The Gibbs free energy (ΔG) of micellization is negative, indicating that the organization of amphiphiles is governed by the hydrophobic effects in an entropy-driven process. The scattering characterization of GlcNAc-PluronicF68-GlcNAc micelles showed a hydrodynamic radius of 8.7nm and negative zeta potential (-21.0±0.9mV). The TEM image evidences the spherical shape of the objects self-assemble into highly regular micelles having a mean diameter of 10nm. The SAXS profile confirmed the spherical shape of the assemblies comprising a swollen PPO core (Rcore=2.25nm) stabilized by PEO chains following Gaussian statistics. The results of the comet assay showed that the GlcNAc-PluronicF68-GlcNAc micelles were not genotoxic, and the cell viability test was higher than 97% for all concentrations, demonstrating that GlcNAc-PluronicF68-GlcNAc is not toxic.