Proteinlike Copolymers as Encapsulating Agents for Small-Molecule Solutes
2015
Malik, Ravish | Genzer, Jan | Hall, Carol K.
We describe the utilization of proteinlike copolymers (PLCs) as encapsulating agents for small-molecule solutes. We perform Monte Carlo simulations on systems containing PLCs and model solute molecules in order to understand how PLCs assemble in solution and what system conditions promote solute encapsulation. Specifically, we explore how the chemical composition of the PLCs and the range and strength of molecular interactions between hydrophobic segments on the PLC and solute molecules affect the solute encapsulation efficiency. The composition profiles of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic segments, the solute, and implicit solvent (or voids) within the PLC globule are evaluated to gain a complete understanding of the behavior in the PLC/solute system. We find that a single-chain PLC encapsulates solute successfully by collapsing the macromolecule to a well-defined globular conformation when the hydrophobic/solute interaction is at least as strong as the interaction strength among hydrophobic segments and the interaction among solute molecules is at most as strong as the hydrophobic/solute interaction strength. Our results can be used by experimentalists as a framework for optimizing unimolecular PLC solute encapsulation and can be extended potentially to applications such as “drug” delivery via PLCs.
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