| 초록 |
Size and Internal Structure of dendrimers: G4 PAMAM dendrimers grafted with polyethylene glycol (PEG) of different sizes and grafting densities were simulated using the coarse-grained (CG) force fields. Long PEG chains at high grafting densities penetrate into the dendrimer core, which might help explain the reduced encapsulation of hydrophobic compounds seen experimentally in dendrimers that are grafted with long PEG’s. Membrane Pore Formation: we performed MD simulations of 36 copies of unmodified (charged), acetylated, and PEGylated G4 dendrimers in bilayers using CG lipid and PEG force fields. Although a larger size and a more spherical shape are usually conducive to pore formation, a thick PEG layer on the dendrimer surface blocks the charge interaction between cationic dendrimer terminals and anionic lipid phosphate groups, and thus inhibits pore formation, despite the increased dendrimer size. |
