New proton conducting membranes for fuel cell applications

In order to synthesize proton-conducting materials which retain acids in the membrane during fuel cell operating conditions, the synthesis of poly(vinylphosphonic acid) grafted polybenzimidazole (PVPA grafted PBI) and the fabrication of multilayer membranes are mainly focussed in this dissertation. Synthesis of PVPA grafted PBI membrane can be done according to "grafting through" method. In "grafting through" method (or macromonomer method), monomer (e.g., vinylphosphonic acid) is radically copolymerized with olefin group attached macromonomer (e.g., allyl grafted PBI and vinylbenzyl grafted PBI). This approach is inherently limited to synthesize graft-copolymer with well-defined architectural and structural parameters. The incorporation of poly(vinylphosphonic acid) into PBI lead to improvements in proton conductivity up to 10-2 S/cm. Regarding multilayer membranes, the proton conducting layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of polymers by various strong acids such as poly(vinylphosphonic acid), poly(vinylsulfonic acid) and poly(styrenesulfonic acid) paired with basic polymers such as poly(4-vinylimidazole) and poly(benzimidazole), which are appropriate for ‘Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell’ applications have been described. Proton conductivity increases with increasing smoothness of the film and the maximum measured conductivity was 10-4 S/cm at 25°C. Recently, anhydrous proton-conducting membranes with flexible structural backbones, which show proton-conducting properties comparable to Nafion have been focus of current research. The flexible backbone of polymer chains allow for a high segmental mobility and thus, a sufficiently low glass transition temperature (Tg), which is an essential factor to reach highly conductive systems. Among the polymers with a flexible chain backbone, poly(vinylphosphonic acid), poly(vinylbenzylphosphonic acid), poly(2-vinylbenzimidazole), poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid), poly(4-vinylimidazole), poly(4-vinylimidazole-co-vinylphosphonic acid) and poly(4-vinylimidazole-co-4-styrenesulfonic acid) are interesting materials for fuel cell applications. Synthesis of polybenzimidazole with anthracene structural unit was carried out in order to avoid modification reaction in the imidazole ring, because anthracene would encourage the modification reaction with an olefin by Diels-Alder reaction.

Synthesis and characterization of Poly(vinylphosphonic acid) for proton exchange membranes in fuel cells

Vinylphosphonic acid (VPA) was polymerized at 80 ºC by free radical polymerization to give polymers (PVPA) of different molecular weight depending on the initiator concentration. The highest molecular weight, Mw, achieved was 6.2 x 104 g/mol as determined by static light scattering. High resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to gain microstructure information about the polymer chain. Information based on tetrad probabilities was utilized to deduce an almost atactic configuration. In addition, 13C-NMR gave evidence for the presence of head-head and tail-tail links. Refined analysis of the 1H NMR spectra allowed for the quantitative determination of the fraction of these links (23.5 percent of all links). Experimental evidence suggested that the polymerization proceeded via cyclopolymerization of the vinylphosphonic acid anhydride as an intermediate. Titration curves indicated that high molecular weight poly(vinylphosphonic acid) PVPA behaved as a monoprotic acid. Proton conductors with phosphonic acid moieties as protogenic groups are promising due to their high charge carrier concentration, thermal stability, and oxidation resistivity. Blends and copolymers of PVPA have already been reported, but PVPA has not been characterized sufficiently with respect to its polymer properties. Therefore, we also studied the proton conductivity behaviour of a well-characterized PVPA. PVPA is a conductor; however, the conductivity depends strongly on the water content of the material. The phosphonic acid functionality in the resulting polymer, PVPA, undergoes condensation leading to the formation of phosphonic anhydride groups at elevated temperature. Anhydride formation was found to be temperature dependent by solid state NMR. Anhydride formation affects the proton conductivity to a large extent because not only the number of charge carriers but also the mobility of the charge carriers seems to change.

A molecular approach towards tethered bilayer lipid membranes: synthesis and characterization of novel anchor lipids

Tethered bilayer lipid membranes (tBLMs) are a promising model system for the natural cell membrane. They consist of a lipid bilayer that is covalently coupled to a solid support via a spacer group. In this study, we developed a suitable approach to increase the submembrane space in tBLMs. The challenge is to create a membrane with a lower lipid density in order to increase the membrane fluidity, but to avoid defects that might appear due to an increase in the lateral space within the tethered monolayers. Therefore, various synthetic strategies and different monolayer preparation techniques were examined. Synthetical attempts to achieve a large ion reservoir were made in two directions: increasing the spacer length of the tether lipids and increasing the lateral distribution of the lipids in the monolayer. The first resulted in the synthesis of a small library of tether lipids (DPTT, DPHT and DPOT) characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, FD-MS, ATR, DSC and TGA. The synthetic strategy for their preparation includes synthesis of precursor with a double bond anchor that can be easily modified for different substrates (e.g. metal and metaloxide). Here, the double bond was modified into a thiol group suitable for gold surface. Another approach towards the preparation of homogeneous monolayers with decreased two-dimensional packing density was the synthesis of two novel anchor lipids: DPHDL and DDPTT. DPHDL is “self-diluted” tether lipid containing two lipoic anchor moieties. DDPTT has an extended lipophylic part that should lead to the preparation of diluted, leakage free proximal layers that will facilitate the completion of the bilayer. Our tool-box of tether lipids was completed with two fluorescent labeled lipid precursors with respectively one and two phytanyl chains in the hydrophobic region and a dansyl group as a fluorophore. The use of such fluorescently marked lipids is supposed to give additional information for the lipid distribution on the air-water interface. The Langmuir film balance was used to investigate the monolayer properties of four of the synthesized thiolated anchor lipids. The packing density and mixing behaviour were examined. The results have shown that mixing anchor with free lipids can homogeneously dilute the anchor lipid monolayers. Moreover, an increase in the hydrophylicity (PEG chain length) of the anchor lipids leads to a higher packing density. A decrease in the temperature results in a similar trend. However, increasing the number of phytanyl chains per lipid molecule is shown to decrease the packing density. LB-monolayers based on pure and mixed lipids in different ratio and transfer pressure were tested to form tBLMs with diluted inner layers. A combination of the LB-monolayer transfer with the solvent exchange method accomplished successfully the formation of tBLMs based on pure DPOT. Some preliminary investigations of the electrical sealing properties and protein incorporation of self-assembled DPOT and DDPTT-based tBLMs were conducted. The bilayer formation performed by solvent exchange resulted in membranes with high resistances and low capacitances. The appearance of space beneath the membrane is clearly visible in the impedance spectra expressed by a second RC element. The latter brings the conclusion that the longer spacer in DPOT and the bigger lateral space between the DDPTT molecules in the investigated systems essentially influence the electrical parameters of the membrane. Finally, we could show the functional incorporation of the small ion carrier valinomycin in both types of membranes.

Nuove sonde fluorescenti per lo studio e la quantificazione del magnesio totale intracellulare

Sebbene il magnesio sia essenziale per la maggior parte dei processi biologici, si conosce ancora poco sulla sua distribuzione e compartimentalizzazione intracellulare, soprattutto a causa dell’inadeguatezza delle tecniche attualmente disponibili. Per questo motivo, particolare interesse ha recentemente suscitato una famiglia di molecole fluorescenti, diaza-18-crown-6 8-idrossichinoline (DCHQ1 e suoi derivati), che mostrano un’alta specificità e affinità per il magnesio (superiore a quella delle sonde commerciali), che consente di mappare il magnesio totale intracellulare. L’approccio sintetico alle molecole DCHQ è stato ottimizzato mediante riscaldamento alle microonde: con questa nuova metodica è stato possibile sintetizzare una famiglia di derivati con caratteristiche di fluorescenza, uptake, ritenzione e localizzazione intracellulare potenziate rispetto alla capostipite DCHQ1. Il derivato acetometossi estere (DCHQ3), idrolizzato dalle esterasi cellulari, ha mostrato un miglior uptake e ritenzione intracellulare; le lunghe catene laterali alchiliche della sonda DCHQ4, invece, hanno conferito a questo derivato maggiore lipofilicità e, di conseguenza, maggiore affinità per le membrane; con l’inserimento di gruppi laterali aromatici, infine, si sono ottenute due sonde (DCHQ5 e DCHQ6) molto fluorescenti e altamente ritenute all’interno delle cellule anche dopo i lavaggi. Il derivato fenilico DCHQ5 si è dimostrato, inoltre, utilizzabile anche per saggi fluorimetrici quantitativi del magnesio totale in campioni cellulari molto piccoli; in più, grazie all’alta ritenzione cellulare, è stato usato per monitorare e quantificare l’efflusso di magnesio attraverso la membrana plasmatica in risposta a stimolazione con cAMP. I risultati presentati in questa tesi mostrano che i DCHQ-derivati potranno rappresentare in futuro uno strumento versatile per lo studio della distribuzione e dell’omeostasi del magnesio cellulare. In particolare la sonda DCHQ5 ha mostrato l’ulteriore peculiarità di essere eccitabile sia nell’UV che nel visibile, e potrebbe essere quindi utilizzata con successo in un’ampia varietà di misure di fluorescenza, fornendo un contributo importante per la comprensione del ruolo di questo importante elemento.

Ion channels in mixed tethered bilayer lipid membranes

Mixed tethered bilayer lipid membranes (tBLMs) are described based on the self-assembly of a monolayer on template stripped gold, of an archea analogue thiolipid, 2,3-di-o-phytanyl-sn-glycerol-1-tetraethylene glycol-D,L--lipoic acid ester lipid (DPTL), and a newly designed dilution molecule, tetraethylene glycol-D,L--lipoic acid ester (TEGL). The usage of spacer and addition of extra dilution molecules between the substrate and the bilayer is that this architecture provides an ionic reservoir underneath the membrane, avoiding direct contact of the embedded membrane proteins with the gold electrodes and increasing the lateral diffusion of the bilayer, thus allowing for the incorporation of complex channels proteins which are failed in non-diluted systems. The tBLM is completed by fusion of liposomes made from a mixture of 1,2-diphythanolyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPhyPC), cholesterol, and 1,2-diphytanoyl-sn-Glycero-3-phosphate (DPhyPG) in a molar ratio of 6:3:1. Varying the mixing ratio, the optimum mixing ratio was obtained at a dilution factor of DPTL and TEGL at 90%:10%. Only under these conditions, the mixed tBLM showed electrical properties, as shown by EIS, which are comparable to a BLM. With higher dilution factors, a defect-free lipid bilayer was not formed. Formation of bilayers have been characterized by different techniques, such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Different proteins such as hemolysin, melittin, gramicidin, M2, Maxi-K, nAChR and bacteriohodopsin are incorporated into these tBLMs as shown by SPR and EIS studies. Ionic conductivity at 0 V vs. Ag|AgCl, 3M KCl were measured by EIS measurements. Our results indicate that these proteins have been successfully incorporated into a very stable tBLM environment in a functionally active form. Therefore, we conclude that the mixed tBLMs have been successfully designed as a general platform for biosensing and screening purposes of membrane proteins.

Mapping the elastic response of epithelial apical cell membranes suspended across porous array

As the elastic response of cell membranes to mechanical stimuli plays a key role in various cellular processes, novel biophysical strategies to quantify the elasticity of native membranes under physiological conditions at a nanometer scale are gaining interest. In order to investigate the elastic response of apical membranes, elasticity maps of native membrane sheets, isolated from MDCK II (Madine Darby Canine kidney strain II) epithelial cells, were recorded by local indentation with an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). To exclude the underlying substrate effect on membrane indentation, a highly ordered gold coated porous array with a pore diameter of 1.2 μm was used to support apical membranes. Overlays of fluorescence and AFM images show that intact apical membrane sheets are attached to poly-D-lysine coated porous substrate. Force indentation measurements reveal an extremely soft elastic membrane response if it is indented at the center of the pore in comparison to a hard repulsion on the adjacent rim used to define the exact contact point. A linear dependency of force versus indentation (-dF/dh) up to 100 nm penetration depth enabled us to define an apparent membrane spring constant (kapp) as the slope of a linear fit with a stiffness value of for native apical membrane in PBS. A correlation between fluorescence intensity and kapp is also reported. Time dependent hysteresis observed with native membranes is explained by a viscoelastic solid model of a spring connected to a Kelvin-Voight solid with a time constant of 0.04 s. No hysteresis was reported with chemically fixated membranes. A combined linear and non linear elastic response is suggested to relate the experimental data of force indentation curves to the elastic modulus and the membrane thickness. Membrane bending is the dominant contributor to linear elastic indentation at low loads, whereas stretching is the dominant contributor for non linear elastic response at higher loads. The membrane elastic response was controlled either by stiffening with chemical fixatives or by softening with F-actin disrupters. Overall, the presented setup is ideally suitable to study the interactions of the apical membrane with the underlying cytoskeleton by means of force indentation elasticity maps combined with fluorescence imaging.

In-vitro synthesis and reconstitution of cytochrome bo 3 ubiquinol oxidase in artificial membranes

Forschung über Membranenproteine stellt strenge Hindernisse, seit ruhigem gerade wenige Beispiele der Membranenproteinsorten sind gekennzeichnet worden in den verwendbaren experimentellen Plattformen gegenüber. Die Hauptherausforderung ist, ihre ausgezeichnete entworfene strukturelle Vollständigkeit zu konservieren, während die Ausdruck-, Lokalisierungs- und Wiederherstellungprozesse auftreten. In-vitro übersetzungssysteme können Vorteile über auf Zellenbasisgenausdruck zum Beispiel haben, wenn das über-ausgedrückte Produkt zur Wirtszelle giftig ist oder wenn fehlende Pfosten-Übersetzungsänderung in den bakteriellen Ausdrucksystemen die Funktionalität der Säugetier- Proteine oder Mangel an vorhandenem Membranenraum verdirbt, Funktionsausdruck verbieten.rn Der Nachahmer von biologische Membranen wie feste gestützte Lipidmembranen sind als Plattform am meisten benutzt, Proteinmembraneninteraktionen nachzuforschen. Wir sind in der Lage, Membranenproteinsorte, da wir eine Plattform für Membranenproteinsynthese vorstellen, nämlich die in-vitrosynthese der Membranenproteine in ein Peptid gestütztes Membranensystem zu adressieren. Die Wiederherstellung der Membranenproteine in den Lipid bilayers resultiert im Allgemeinen mit verschiedenen Proteinanpassungen. Als Alternative erforschen wir dieses System zum ersten Mal, um genaueres Modell zu den zellularen Membranen zu verursachen und ihre Funktion, wie Proteineinfügung, Proteinfunktion und Ligandinteraktionen nachzuahmen.rn In dieser Arbeit ist unser Ziel, komplizierte Transmembraneproteine, wie des Cytochrome bo3-ubiquinol Oxydase (Cyt-bo3) direkt innerhalb der biomimetic vorbildlichen Membrane zu synthetisieren. In unserem System wird festes gestütztes tBLM wie, P19/DMPE/PC als Plattform benutzt. Dieses künstliche Membranensystem mimiks die amphiphile Architektur eines Zelle-abgeleiteten Membranensystems.rn

Biomimetic bilayer membranes made from polymers and lipids

Amphiphile Blockcopolymere sind in der Lage in Wasser Morphologien auszubilden, die analog sind zur hydrophil-hydrophob-hydrophil-Struktur von natürlichen Lipiddoppelschichten. In dieser Arbeit wird zum ersten Mal die Präparation und Charakterisierung von oberflächengestützten Polymerdoppelschichten aus Polybutadien-b-Polyethylenoxid (PB-PEO) beschrieben. Für die Herstellung dieser Strukturen wurden zwei unterschiedliche Präparationsstrategien verfolgt. Der erste Weg besteht aus einer zweistufigen Methode, bei der im ersten Schritt organisierte Monoschichten mittels Langmuir-Blodgett-Transfer auf Gold übertragen und kovalent angebunden werden. Im zweiten Schritt werden hydrophobe Wechselwirkungen ausgenutzt, um über Langmuir-Schaefer-Transfer eine weitere Schicht aufzubringen. Somit wurden homogene Architekturen erzeugt, die oberflächengestützten Lipiddoppelschichten gleichen. Als alternativer, einstufiger Ansatz zur Herstellung von Polymerdoppelschichten wurde das Spreiten von Polymervesikeln auf Gold verfolgt. Auch hierdurch ließen sich Doppelschichtstrukturen mit einer vollständigen Oberflächenbedeckung erzeugen. Die hergestellten Polymerdoppelschichten besitzen eine Dicke von 11-14 nm, die von der Präparationsmethode abhängt. Die Polymerstrukturen weisen bei Trocknung für 1.5 h eine Stabilität gegenüber Luft auf. Bei längeren Trocknungszeiten von ca. 12 h kommt es zu einer Reorganisation der Oberfläche. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass Wasser dazu notwendig ist die Strukturen auf lange Sicht zu stabilisieren. Um die Biokompatibilität der Polymerschichten nachzuweisen, wurden die Wechselwirkungen mit dem membranaktiven Peptid Polymyxin B und dem Transmembranprotein α-Haemolysin gezeigt. Mobilität ist ein wichtiger Faktor für die korrekte Funktion vieler Transmembranproteine. Um die laterale Diffusionsdynamik innerhalb der künstlichen Strukturen zu untersuchen, wurde die Mobilität eines integralen Modellpeptids und von fluoreszierenden Membransonden gemessen. Es konnte mit einzelmolekülempfindlichen Techniken gezeigt werden, dass das α-helikale Peptid und die kleinen Fluoreszenzfarbstoffe frei im hydrophoben Kern der Polymerdoppelschicht diffundieren können. Die Diffusion von beiden Spezies scheint stark von der Fluidität der Polymermatrix beeinflusst zu sein. Ein weiterer Teil dieser Arbeit widmet sich der Entwicklung eines angemessenen, lipidbasierten Referenzsystems für zukünftige Proteinuntersuchungen. Hierzu wurde eine neue Methode zu Herstellung von peptidgestützten Lipiddoppelschichtmembranen entwickelt. Dies wurde durch kovalente Befestigung eines Thiopeptids an einen Goldfilm und darauffolgende Anbindung eines Lipids erreicht. Zur Ausbildung der Lipiddoppelschicht auf dem Lipopeptidunterbau wurder der Rapid Solvent Exchange verwendet. Die Ausbildung der Lipiddoppelschicht wurde sowohl auf microskopischer als auch auf makroskopischer Ebene nachgewiesen. Im letzten Schritt wurde die Anwendbarkeit des Modelsystems für elektrochemische Messungen durch den funktionalen Einbau des Ionentransporters Valinomycin unter Beweis gestellt.

Role of αvβ3 – Integrin and TLR2 in the innate response to Herpes Simplex Virus infection and Delivery of retargeted oncolytic Herpes Simplex via carrier cells

In the first part of my thesis I studied the mechanism of initiation of the innate response to HSV-1. Innate immune response is the first line of defense set up by the cell to counteract pathogens infection and it is elicited by the activation of a number of membrane or intracellular receptors and sensors, collectively indicated as PRRs, Patter Recognition Receptors. We reported that the HSV pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP) that activate Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and lead to the initiation of innate response are the virion glycoproteins gH/gL and gB, which constitute the conserved fusion core apparatus across the Herpesvirus. Specifically gH/gL is sufficient to initiate a signaling cascade which leads to NF-κB activation. Then, by gain and loss-of-function approaches, we found that αvβ3-integrin is a sensor of and plays a crucial role in the innate defense against HSV-1. We showed that αvβ3-integrin signals through a pathway that concurs with TLR2, affects activation/induction of interferons type 1, NF-κB, and a polarized set of cytokines and receptors. Thus, we demonstrated that gH/gL is sufficient to induce IFN1 and NF-κB via this pathway. From these data, we proposed that αvβ3-integrin is considered a class of non-TLR pattern recognition receptors. In the second part of my thesis I studied the capacity of human mesenchymal stromal cells isolated by fetal membranes (FM-hMSCs) to be used as carrier cells for the delivery of retargeted R-LM249 virus. The use of systemically administrated carrier cells to deliver oncolytic viruses to tumoral targets is a promising strategy in oncolytic virotherapy. We observed that FM-hMSCs can be infected by R-LM249 and we optimized the infection condition; then we demonstrate that stromal cells sustain the replication of retargeted R-LM249 and spread it to target tumoral cells. From these preliminary data FM-hMSCs resulted suitable to be used as carrier cells

Polymeric membranes for CO2 separation: effect of aging, humidity and facilitated transport

Polymeric membranes represent a promising technology for gas separation processes, thanks to low costs, reduced energy consumption and limited waste production. The present thesis aims at studying the transport properties of two membrane materials, suitable for CO2 purification applications. In the first part, a polyimide, Matrimid 5218, has been throughout investigated, with particular reference to the effect of thermal treatment, aging and the presence of water vapor in the gas transport process. Permeability measurements showed that thermal history affects relevantly the diffusion of gas molecules across the membrane, influencing also the stability of the separation performances. Subsequently, the effect of water on Matrimid transport properties has been characterized for a wide set of incondensable penetrants. A monotonous reduction of permeability took place at increasing the water concentration within the polymer matrix, affecting the investigated gaseous species to the same extent, despite the different thermodynamic and kinetic features. In this view, a novel empirical model, based on the Free Volume Theory, has been proposed to qualitatively describe the phenomenon. Moreover, according to the accurate representation of the experimental data, the suggested approach has been combined with a more rigorous thermodynamic tool (NELF Model), allowing an exhaustive description of water influence on the single parameters contributing to the gas permeation across the membrane. In the second part, the study has focused on the synthesis and characterization of facilitated transport membranes, able to achieving outstanding separation performances thanks to the chemical enhancement of CO2 permeability. In particular, the transport properties have been investigated for high pressure CO2 separation applications and specific solutions have been proposed to solve stability issues, frequently arising under such severe conditions. Finally, the effect of different process parameters have been investigated, aiming at the identification of the optimal conditions capable to maximize the separation performance.

Uptake mechanism, intracellular trafficking and endo-lysosomal pH monitoring of polystyrene nanoparticles

What is the intracellular fate of nanoparticles (NPs) taken up by the cells? This question has been investigated for polystyrene NPs of different sizes with a set of molecular biological and biophysical techniques.rnTwo sets of fluorescent NPs, cationic and non-ionic, were synthesized with three different polymerization techniques. Non-ionic particles (132 – 846 nm) were synthesized with dispersion polymerization in an ethanol/water solution. Cationic NPs with 120 nm were synthesized by miniemulsion polymerization Particles with 208, 267 and 603 nm were produced by seeding the 120 nm particle obtained by miniemulsion polymerization with drop-wise added monomer and polymerization of such. The colloidal characterization of all particles showed a comparable amount of the surface groups. In addition, particles were characterized with regard to their size, morphology, solid content, amount of incorporated fluorescent dye and zeta potential. The fluorescent intensities of all particles were measured by fluorescence spectroscopy for calibration in further cellular experiments. rnThe uptake of the NPs to HeLa cells after 1 – 24 h revealed a much higher uptake of cationic NPs in comparison to non-ionic NPs. If the same amount of NPs with different sizes is introduced to the cell, a different amount of particles is present in the cell medium, which complicates a comparison of the uptake. The same conclusion is valid for the particles’ overall surface area. Therefore, HeLa cells were incubated with the same concentration, amount and surface area of NPs. It was found that with the same concentration always the same polymer amount is taking up by cells. However, the amount of particles taken up decreases for the biggest. A correlation to the surface area could not be found. We conclude that particles are endocytosed by an excavator-shovel like mechanism, which does not distinguish between different sizes, but is only dependent on the volume that is taken up. For the decreased amount of large particles, an overload of this mechanism was assumed, which leads to a decrease in the uptake. rnThe participation of specific endocytotic processes has been determined by the use of pharmacological inhibitors, immunocytological staining and immunofluorescence. The uptake of NPs into the endo-lysosomal machinery is dominated by a caveolin-mediated endocytosis. Other pathways, which include macropinocytosis and a dynamin-dependent mechanism but exclude clathrin mediated endocytosis, also occur as competing processes. All particles can be found to some extent in early endosomes, but only bigger particles were proven to localize in late endosomes. No particles were found in lysosomes; at least not in lysosomes that are labeled with Lamp1 and cathepsin D. However, based on the character of the performed experiment, a localization of particles in lysosomes cannot be excluded.rnDuring their ripening process, vesicles undergo a gradual acidification from early over late endosomes to lysosomes. It is hypothesized that NPs in endo-lysosomal compartments experience the same change in pH value. To probe the environmental pH of NPs after endocytosis, the pH-sensitive dye SNARF-4F was grafted onto amino functionalized polystyrene NPs. The pH value is a ratio function of the two emission wavelengths of the protonated and deprotonated form of the dye and is hence independent of concentration changes. The particles were synthesized by the aforementioned miniemulsion polymerization with the addition of the amino functionalized copolymer AEMH. The immobilization of SNARF-4F was performed by an EDC-coupling reaction. The amount of physically adsorbed dye in comparison to covalently bonded dye was 15% as determined by precipitation of the NPs in methanol, which is a very good solvent for SNARF-4F. To determine influences of cellular proteins on the fluorescence properties, a intracellular calibration fit was established with platereader measurements and cLSM imaging by the cell-penetrable SNARF-4F AM ester. Ionophores equilibrated the extracellular and intracellular pH.rnSNARF-4F NPs were taken up well by HeLa cells and showed no toxic effects. The pH environment of SNARF-4F NPs has been qualitatively imaged as a movie over a time period up to 1 h in pseudo-colors by a self-written automated batch program. Quantification revealed an acidification process until pH value of 4.5 over 24 h, which is much slower than the transport of nutrients to lysosomes. NPs are present in early endosomes after min. 1 h, in late endosomes at approx. 8 h and end up in vesicles with a pH value typical for lysosomes after > 24 h. We therefore assume that NPs bear a unique endocytotic mechanism, at least with regards to the kinetic involvedrn

Transport of nanoparticles into polymersomes : a minimal model system of particles passage through biological membranes

This thesis focuses on the design and characterization of a novel, artificial minimal model membrane system with chosen physical parameters to mimic a nanoparticle uptake process driven exclusively by adhesion and softness of the bilayer. The realization is based on polymersomes composed of poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-poly(2-methyloxazoline) (PMDS-b-PMOXA) and nanoscopic colloidal particles (polystyrene, silica), and the utilization of powerful characterization techniques. rnPDMS-b-PMOXA polymersomes with a radius, Rh ~100 nm, a size polydispersity, PD = 1.1 and a membrane thickness, h = 16 nm, were prepared using the film rehydratation method. Due to the suitable mechanical properties (Young’s modulus of ~17 MPa and a bending modulus of ~7⋅10-8 J) along with the long-term stability and the modifiability, these kind of polymersomes can be used as model membranes to study physical and physicochemical aspects of transmembrane transport of nanoparticles. A combination of photon (PCS) and fluorescence (FCS) correlation spectroscopies optimizes species selectivity, necessary for a unique internalization study encompassing two main efforts. rnFor the proof of concepts, the first effort focused on the interaction of nanoparticles (Rh NP SiO2 = 14 nm, Rh NP PS = 16 nm; cNP = 0.1 gL-1) and polymersomes (Rh P = 112 nm; cP = 0.045 gL-1) with fixed size and concentration. Identification of a modified form factor of the polymersome entities, selectively seen in the PCS experiment, enabled a precise monitor and quantitative description of the incorporation process. Combining PCS and FCS led to the estimation of the incorporated particles per polymersome (about 8 in the examined system) and the development of an appropriate methodology for the kinetics and dynamics of the internalization process. rnThe second effort aimed at the establishment of the necessary phenomenology to facilitate comparison with theories. The size and concentration of the nanoparticles were chosen as the most important system variables (Rh NP = 14 - 57 nm; cNP = 0.05 - 0.2 gL-1). It was revealed that the incorporation process could be controlled to a significant extent by changing the nanoparticles size and concentration. Average number of 7 up to 11 NPs with Rh NP = 14 nm and 3 up to 6 NPs with Rh NP = 25 nm can be internalized into the present polymersomes by changing initial nanoparticles concentration in the range 0.1- 0.2 gL-1. Rapid internalization of the particles by polymersomes is observed only above a critical threshold particles concentration, dependent on the nanoparticle size. rnWith regard possible pathways for the particle uptake, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) has revealed two different incorporation mechanisms depending on the size of the involved nanoparticles: cooperative incorporation of nanoparticles groups or single nanoparticles incorporation. Conditions for nanoparticle uptake and controlled filling of polymersomes were presented. rnIn the framework of this thesis, the experimental observation of transmembrane transport of spherical PS and SiO2 NPs into polymersomes via an internalization process was reported and examined quantitatively for the first time. rnIn a summary the work performed in frames of this thesis might have significant impact on cell model systems’ development and thus improved understanding of transmembrane transport processes. The present experimental findings help create the missing phenomenology necessary for a detailed understanding of a phenomenon with great relevance in transmembrane transport. The fact that transmembrane transport of nanoparticles can be performed by artificial model system without any additional stimuli has a fundamental impact on the understanding, not only of the nanoparticle invagination process but also of the interaction of nanoparticles with biological as well as polymeric membranes. rn

Identification and characterisation of Stx5 a novel interactor of VLDL-R affecting its intracellular trafficking and processing

We identified syntaxin 5 (Stx5), a protein involved in intracellular vesicle trafficking, as a novel interaction partner of the very low density lipoprotein (VLDL)-receptor (VLDL-R), a member of the LDL-receptor family. In addition, we investigated the effect of Stx5 on VLDL-R maturation, trafficking and processing. Here, we demonstrated mutual association of both proteins using several in vitro approaches. Furthermore, we detected a special maturation phenotype of VLDL-R resulting from Stx5 overexpression. We found that Stx5 prevented Golgi-maturation of VLDL-R, but did not cause accumulation of the immature protein in ER to Golgi compartments, the main expression sites of Stx5. Rather more, abundantly present Stx5 was capable of translocating ER-/N-glycosylated VLDL-R to the plasma membrane, and thus was insensitive to BFA treatment and incubation at low temperature. Based on our findings, we postulate that Stx5 can directly bind to the C-terminal domain of VLDL-R, thereby influencing the receptor’s glycosylation, trafficking and processing characteristics. Resulting from that, we further suggest that Stx5, which is highly expressed in neurons along with VLDL-R, might play a role in modulating the receptor’s physiology by participating in a novel/undetermined alternative pathway bypassing the Golgi apparatus.

Curvature induced nanoscale rafts in lipid membranes

We present a coarse grained model for computer simulations of lipid mixtures, which we use to study generic mechanisms for the formation of nanoscale membrane structures (lipid rafts). We observe that even a two component system can separate into rafts of finite size, and we study these rafts and other membrane structures in detail. We look at the characteristics of our model that enable these phenomena and how they may relate to lipid-cholesterol or lipid-lipid mixtures. We propose an explanation for our findings using elastic theory to describe a possible mechanism of raft stabilization via curvature differences between coexisting lipid phases and we investigate whether this theory can be used to explain the results of our computer simulations.