Computer Simulations of Responsive Nanogels at Lipid Membrane

Abstract

The swelling and collapse of responsive nanogels on a planar lipid bilayer are studied by means of mesoscopic computer simulations. The effects of molecular weight, cross-linking density, and adhesion strength are examined. The conditions for collapse-mediated engulfing by the bilayer are found. In particular, the results show that at low hydrophobicity level the increase in the nanogel softness decreases the engulfing rate. On the contrary, for stronger hydrophobicity level the trend changes to the opposite one. At the same time, when the cross-linking density is too low or the adhesion strength is too high the nanogel deformation at the membrane suppresses the engulfing regardless of the network swelling ratio. Finally, for comparative reasons, the behavior of the nanogels is also studied at the solid surface. These results may be useful in the design of soft particles capable of tuning of their elasticity and porosity for successful intracellular drug delivery.

Keywords: adhesion; endocytosis; lipid membranes; nanogels; stimuli‐responsive polymers.