2023 Volume 23 Issue 5 Pages 249-257
Since amphiphilic polymers has hydrophobic domain, the cellular membrane can be modified with the polymers, which enabled us to perform cell manipulation and cell fusion. Conjugation of single stranded DNA (ssDNA) or functional oligopeptide to poly(ethylene glycol)-conjugated phospholipid (PEG-lipid) made it possible to induce specific cell-cell attachment and cell-substrate attachment. Those PEG-lipid derivatives are very convenient for this purpose because they are not taken up into cells and are localized on the cell surface, which indicates that the functional domains are displayed on the cell surface. With the technique, new bioartificial pancreas will be made and also the improvement of cell fusion will be realistic.
