Vesicle and cell networks: Interconnecting cells by synthetic polymers

Water-soluble polymers carrying a small fraction of hydrophobic groups are able to insert these groups into the hydrophobic interior of lipid bilayers or membranes. Under certain conditions such polymers can interconnect different vesicles or biological cells. With increasing polymer concentration this leads to the formation of a three-dimensional network. In this paper we report about the preparation and a first characterization of the structure and the mechanical properties of these new vesicle-polymer and polymer-cell gels composed of alpha,omega-cholesterol-modified poly(oxyethylene) and dimethyldioctadecylammonium chloride vesicles or living cells.