Combining polymers with the functionality of proteins: new concepts for atom transfer radical polymerization, nanoreactors and damage self-reporting materials.

Proteins are macromolecules with a great diversity of functions. By combining these biomolecules with polymers, exciting opportunities for new concepts in polymer sciences arise. This highlight exemplifies the aforementioned with current research results of our group.

Fluorescent protein senses and reports mechanical damage in glass-fiber-reinforced polymer composites.

Yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) is used as a mechanoresponsive layer at the fiber/resin interface in glass-fiber-reinforced composites. The protein loses its fluorescence when subjected to mechanical stress. Within the material, it reports interfacial shear debonding and barely visible impact damage by a transition from a fluorescent to a non-fluorescent state.

The linoleic acid influence on molecular interactions in the model of biological membrane.

The present work explores the properties for binary (LA/DPPC), (cholesterol/DPPC) and also ternary (LA/cholesterol/DPPC) mixed Langmuir monolayers, at the air-water interface, treated as the simplest models of a half of the biological membranes. In ternary monolayers both cholesterol and DPPC were mixed at constant molar ratios that correspond to the proportions occuring in different natural membranes, among which fibroblast membrane (where the amount of phospholipid predominates) and also erythrocyte membrane (where the amount of sterol predominates) were taken into consideration. Our researches were conducted by using the Langmuir film balance, by means of which we registered the surface pressure (pi) as a function of the area of water surface available to each molecule (A).

Differences in surface behaviour of galactolipoids originating from different kind of wheat tissue cultivated in vitro.

The aim of presented researches was to investigate the physicochemical properties of Langmuir monolayer of galactolipids extracted from two different kinds of plastids: immature embryos and inflorescences. Differences between the physicochemical properties of the plastid membranes may help to explain different physiological processes, such as plant regeneration. Surface pressure (pi) vs.