Enzyme loading of polymersomes requires permeability to enable them to interact with the external environment, typically requiring addition of complex functionality to enable porosity. Herein, we describe a synthetic route towards intrinsically permeable polymersomes loaded with functional proteins using initiator-free visible light-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly (photo-PISA) und...

Polymer vesicles polymersomes are vesicles obtained from the self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers in aqueous solution as a result of free-energy minimization. Their potential use as drug delivery systems, sensors, and/or nanoreactors has recently attracted a great deal of interest. Polymersomes exhibit larger mechanical stability and lower permeability than liposomes, their structural ...

Porous polymersomes based on block copolymers of isocyanopeptides and styrene have been used to anchor enzymes at three different locations, namely, in their lumen (glucose oxidase, GOx), in their bilayer membrane (Candida antarctica lipase B, CalB) and on their surface (horseradish peroxidase, HRP). The surface coupling was achieved by click chemistry between acetylene-functionalised anchors o...

Nano-sized polymersomes functionalized with peptides or proteins are being increasingly studied for targeted delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic molecules. Earlier computational studies have suggested that ellipsoidal nanoparticles, compared to spherical ones, display enhanced binding efficiency with target cells, but this has not yet been experimentally validated. We hypothesize that hydrop...

Despite the low complexity of their components, several simple physical systems, including microspheres, coacervate droplets and phospholipid membrane structures (liposomes), have been suggested as protocell models. These, however, lack key cellular characteristics, such as the ability to replicate or to dock with extracellular species. Here, we report a simple method for the de novo creation o...

The dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2), a G-protein coupled receptor is expressed into PBd(22)-PEO(13) and PMOXA(20)-PDMS(54)-PMOXA(20) block copolymer vesicles. The conformational integrity of the receptor is confirmed by antibody- and ligand-binding assays. Replacement of bound dopamine is demonstrated on surface-immobilized polymersomes, thus making this a promising platform for drug screening.