Polyelectrolyte-Carbon Dot Complex Coacervation.

This Letter presents complex coacervation between the biopolymer diethylaminoethyl dextran hydrochloride (DEAE-Dex) and carbon dots. The formation of these coacervates was dependent on both DEAE-Dex concentration and solution ionic strength. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the blue fluorescence of the carbon dots was unaffected by coacervation.

Self-Assembling Polypeptides in Complex Coacervation.

Intracellular compartmentalization plays a pivotal role in cellular function, with membrane-bound organelles and membrane-less biomolecular "condensates" playing key roles. These condensates, formed through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), enable selective compartmentalization without the barrier of a lipid bilayer, thereby facilitating rapid formation and dissolution in response to stimuli. Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) or proteins with intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), which are often rich in charged and polar amino acid sequences, scaffold many condensates, often in conjunction with RNA.

Design Rules for the Sequestration of Viruses into Polypeptide Complex Coacervates.

Encapsulation is a strategy that has been used to facilitate the delivery and increase the stability of proteins and viruses. Here, we investigate the encapsulation of viruses via complex coacervation, which is a liquid-liquid phase separation resulting from the complexation of oppositely charged polymers. In particular, we utilized polypeptide-based coacervates and explored the effects of peptide chemistry, chain length, charge patterning, and hydrophobicity to better understand the effects of the coacervating polypeptides on virus incorporation.