Layer-by-layer assembly of viral capsid for cell adhesion

Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV)-based thin films are biologically active for cell culture. Using layer-by-layer assembly of CPMV and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), quantitatively scalable biomolecular surfaces were constructed, which were well characterized using quartz crystal microbalance, UV-vis and atomic force microscopy. The surface coverage of CPMV nanoparticles depended on the adsorption time and pH of the virus solution, with a greater amount of CPMV adsorption occurring near its isoelectric point. It was found that the adhesion and proliferation of NIH-3T3 fibroblasts can be controlled by the coverage of viral particles using this multilayer technique.

Layer-by-layer assembly of gelatin

Electrostatic assembly of one species can be realized using gelatin as a polyampholyte. Under suitable conditions where the electrostatic attraction and repulsion were both significant and in balance, linear growth of multilayers driven by electrostatic interactions was sustained over many successive assembly steps, and the maximum amount of adsorption of each layer was reached when the solution pH was around the isoelectric point. The rearrangement of the adsorbed chains after drying was confirmed by contact angle analysis. In addition with only one species involved, the assembled thin films should be chemically uniform rather than layered.

Effect of polydispersity on the self-assembly structure of diblock copolymers under various confined states: A Monte Carlo study

We studied the self-assembly of polydisperse diblock copolymers under various confined states by Monte Carlo simulation. When the copolymers were confined within two parallel walls, it was found that the ordered strip structures appeared alternately with the increase in wall width. Moreover, the wall width at which the ordered structure appeared tended to increase with an increase in the polydispersity index (PDI). On the other hand, the simulation results showed that the copolymers were likely to form ordered concentric strip structures when they were confined within a circle wall.