Université de Fribourg

Dynamic and biocompatible thermo-responsive magnetic hydrogels that respond to an alternating magnetic field

Crippa, Federica ; Moore, Thomas L. ; Mortato, Mariangela ; Geers, Christoph ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Hirt, Ann M. ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 2017, vol. 427, p. 212–219

Magnetic thermo-responsive hydrogels are a new class of materials that have recently attracted interest in biomedicine due to their ability to change phase upon magnetic stimulation. They have been used for drug release, magnetic hyperthermia treatment, and can potentially be engineered as stimuli-responsive substrates for cell mechanobiology. In this regard, we propose a series of magnetic...

Université de Fribourg

A guide to investigating colloidal nanoparticles by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy: pitfalls and benefits

Monnier, Christophe A. ; Thévenaz, David C. ; Balog, Sandor ; Fiore, Gina L. ; Vanhecke, Dimitri ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: AIMS Biophysics, 2015, vol. 2, no. 3, p. 245–258

Synthetic colloidal nanoparticles are nowadays omnipresent. Nonetheless, adequately characterizing them and interpreting the data is challenging, as their surrounding environment, e.g. the medium they are dispersed in, is often an active contributor to their size, morphology and structural integrity. In this regard, cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) is an ideal methodology. This...

Université de Fribourg

Filling polymersomes with polymers by peroxidase-catalyzed atom transfer radical polymerization

Dinu, Maria Valentina ; Spulber, Mariana ; Renggli, Kasper ; Wu, Dalin ; Monnier, Christophe A. ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Bruns, Nico

In: Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 2015, vol. 36, no. 6, p. 507–514

Polymersomes that encapsulate a hydrophilic polymer are prepared by conducting biocatalytic atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) in these hollow nanostructures. To this end, ATRPase horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is encapsulated into vesicles self-assembled from poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block-poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (PDMS-b-PMOXA) diblock copolymers. The vesicles are turned into...

Université de Fribourg

Insertion of Nanoparticle Clusters into Vesicle Bilayers

Bonnaud, Cécile ; Monnier, Christophe A. ; Demurtas, Davide ; Jud, Corinne ; Vanhecke, Dimitri ; Montet, Xavier ; Hovius, Ruud ; Lattuada, Marco ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: ACS Nano, 2014, vol. 8, no. 4, p. 3451–3460

A major contemporary concern in developing effective liposome–nanoparticle hybrids is the present inclusion size limitation of nanoparticles between vesicle bilayers, which is considered to be around 6.5 nm in diameter. In this article, we present experimental observations backed by theoretical considerations which show that greater structures can be incorporated within vesicle membranes by...