Novel Application of Cellulose Paper As a Platform for the Macromolecular Self-Assembly of Biomimetic Giant Liposomes

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2016 Nov 30;8(47):32102-32107. doi: 10.1021/acsami.6b11960. Epub 2016 Nov 15.

Abstract

We report a facile and scalable method to fabricate biomimetic giant liposomes by using a cellulose paper-based materials platform. Termed PAPYRUS for Paper-Abetted liPid hYdRation in aqUeous Solutions, the method is general and can produce liposomes in various aqueous media and at elevated temperatures. Encapsulation of macromolecules and production of liposomes with membranes of complex compositions is straightforward. The ease of manipulation of paper makes practical massive parallelization and scale-up of the fabrication of giant liposomes, demonstrating for the first time the surprising usefulness of paper as a platform for macromolecular self-assembly.

Keywords: cellulose; encapsulation; giant unilamellar vesicles; paper; synthetic cells.

MeSH terms

  • Biomimetics
  • Cellulose / chemistry*
  • Lipids
  • Liposomes
  • Macromolecular Substances

Substances

  • Lipids
  • Liposomes
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Cellulose