Construction of Peptide Amphiphile-Coated Coacervates with Selective Permeability

TL;DR

Researchers created a system where coacervates are coated with peptide nanovesicles to control molecule diffusion based on size.

Contribution

A novel method to functionalize coacervates with selective permeability using ELP-CLP vesicle coatings.

Findings

ELP-CLP vesicles coat coacervates via electrostatic interactions.

Coating functionality can be controlled by altering surface charges and formulation parameters.

The system allows selective permeability based on molecular weight.

Abstract

The combination of membranes with coacervates has been
regarded
as an effective approach to stabilize coacervates and modify their
surface properties. Here, we achieved the construction of a functional
coacervate system by localizing nanovesicles assembled by elastin-like
peptide-block-collagen-like peptides (ELP-CLPs) on the surface of
polyelectrolyte coacervates. The formation of the ELP-CLP coating
was driven by electrostatic interactions between negatively charged
ELP-CLP vesicles and positively charged coacervates. Altering the
surface charge of ELP-CLP vesicles or coacervates disrupted the formation
of coatings, and the formulation parameters, such as different mixing
protocols and the order of adding the components, could be used to
control the coating process. The ELP-CLP vesicle coating successfully
functionalized the coacervates and presented the ability to control
the diffusion of molecules based on their different molecular weights.
Our results demonstrated approaches to control the coating process
and coating functionality of ELP-CLP vesicle coatings and highlighted
their potential application as a novel surface modification to provide
selective permeability to current coacervate systems.

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