Dresden 2026 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 24: Biopolymers, Biomaterials and Bioinspired Functional Materials II (joint session CPP/BP)
BP 24.6: Talk
Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 18:15–18:30, ZEU/0255
Probing light-induced drug release to lipid monolayers — •Ipsita Pani, Michael Hardt, and Björn Braunschweig — Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Münster, Corrensstraße 28-30, Münster 48149, Germany
Light-induced drug release using photoresponsive nanocarriers is increasingly explored for targeted therapeutic applications. While most studies characterize release in bulk aqueous environments, drug release across aqueous-organic interfaces is equally important, as these interfaces represent the entry point into cells. We recently demonstrated light-induced drug release to air-water interface.[1] In cancer therapeutics, passive diffusion of anticancer drugs across lipid membranes is a key transport mechanism, yet direct quantitative data on drug-lipid interactions and their effect on release remain limited. Here, using arylazopyrazole photosurfactant nanocarriers and doxorubicin as a representative anticancer drug, we investigate how interfacial lipid composition governs light-induced drug release. By combining Langmuir monolayers with interface-specific vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy, we quantitatively estimate drug release at lipid-adsorbed interfaces as a model membrane. To systematically probe headgroup effects, we employ four dimyristoyl lipids- DMPC, DMPG, DMPS, and DMPE which share identical acyl chains but differ in charge and polarity. These results elucidate how lipid-drug interactions modulate release efficiencies at membrane-like interfaces, providing insights key to the design of photoresponsive nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery. [1] Pani et al. Chem. Sci., 2024, 15, 18865-18871.
Keywords: Responsive interfaces; photoswitches; lipids; Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy