Large hybrid Polymer/Lipid Unilamellar vesicle (LHUV) at the nanoscale: An insight into the lipid distribution in the membrane and permeability control

Membrane structuration of Large Hybrid Unilamellar Polymer/Lipid Vesicle (LHUV) is an important parameter on the optimization of their properties and thus their valuation in various fields. However, this kind of information is hardly accessible. In this work, we will focus on the development of LHUV obtained from the self-assembly of diblock poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PDMS-b-PEO) of different molar masses combined with 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) at 15% and 25% w/w content. The hybrid character of the resulting vesicles as well as their membrane structure are characterized by the mean of different techniques such as small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). We show that hybrid vesicles with homogeneous membrane structure are obtained whatever the molar mass of the block copolymer (from 2500 to 4000 g/mol), with of a small number of tubular structures observed with the higher molar mass. We also demonstrate that the permeability of the LHUV, evaluated through controlled release experiments of fluorescein loaded in LHUV, is essentially controlled by the lipid/polymer composition.