Light-Activated Desorption of Photoactive Polyelectrolytes from Supported Lipid Bilayers

Phospholipid vesicles and supported bilayers have emerged as a promising platform for the development of biorecognition devices. To expand the capabilities of such biochips, it becomes desirable to direct and control the assembly of lipid structures into more sophisticated architectures. As one step toward this goal, we demonstrate the photoregulated desorption of a new class of polymer from lipid bilayers. The neutral, hydrophobic polymer resides within the bilayer under mild pH and ambient conditions. However, it contains side groups that can undergo excited state proton transfer (ESPT). The polymer therefore behaves as a polyelectrolyte when exposed to UV light. With the ensuing increase in hydrophilicity, the molecule is spontaneously ejected from the bilayer. Quartz crystal microbalance measurements with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) have recorded this process and have shown that a rapid buffer exchange during light exposure results in efficient removal of the polymer from the system. Three polymers were tested in all: a polyanion, a polycation, and a polyzwitterion. A one-step approach to the synthesis of the monomer, performed under relatively mild reaction conditions, made it possible to synthesize each polymer in one step.