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Updated: May 5, 2026

Spatiotemporally Controlled Nuclear Translocation of Guests in Living Cells Using Caged Molecular Glues as Photoactivatable Tags
Published on: January 17, 2019
Photoresponsive vesicle permeability based on intramolecular host-guest inclusion
Ulrike Kauscher1, Avik Samanta, Bart Jan Ravoo
1Organic Chemistry Institute and Graduate School of Chemistry, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstrasse 40, 48149 Münster, Germany. b.j.ravoo@uni-muenster.de.
Abstract:
This article describes light-responsive vesicles that can release their contents in response to a light-sensitive molecular trigger. To this end, liposomes were equipped with amphiphilic β-cyclodextrin that was covalently labeled with azobenzene. Using dye encapsulation and confocal laser scanning microscopy, we show that the permeability of these vesicles strongly increases upon UV irradiation (λ = 350 nm) with concomitant isomerization of apolar trans-azobenzene to polar cis-azobenzene on the liposome surface.
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