(286g) Star Polymers and Their Interaction with Lipid Membranes Via Coarse-Grained Molecular Simulations
AIChE Annual Meeting
2020
2020 Virtual AIChE Annual Meeting
Computational Molecular Science and Engineering Forum
Applications of Molecular Modeling to Study Water Mediated Interfacial Phenomena
Tuesday, November 17, 2020 - 9:15am to 9:30am
Star polymers (SPs) of fifteen different architectures/ compositions were simulated both in solution and interacting with a model lipid membrane using a MARTINI coarse-grained model. These simulations yielded information on the equilibrium structure-property relationships of such macromolecules and the energetics of active membrane transport. Star polymers exist in solution in a nearly spherical shape and their size depends on both the total length of their polymer arms and the degree of hydrophobicity, with variation of ~30% observed in the radius of gyration between a fully hydrophilic SP and a fully hydrophobic SP. These properties were also measured during membrane translocation and SPs presented deformations of up to 40% or 100% depending on the length of the polymers arms. Such large deviations in size and shape could ultimately lead to changes in the drug loading/ release behavior. The deformations of the membrane were also recorded as was the energy barrier to transport which varied up to 100% depending on the hydrophobicity of the SP. The extraction of lipid molecules into the SP post-translocation was also observed, serving as a further proof-of-concept for the potential of these amphiphilic macromolecules to act as nanocarriers.