Interaction of thermal responsive NIPAM nanogels with model lipid monolayers at the air-water interface

Understanding the interaction of nanoparticles (NP) with ceramide lipids is important in developing strategies to overcome the formidable obstacle that is skin. This paper presents studies of interactions between N-isopropylacrylamide nanogels, crosslinked with 30% N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide, and model ceramide lipid monolayers at the air-water interface as a function of temperature. In the case of the mixed ceramide/cholesterol/behenic acid monolayer, the interaction of nanogels with the ceramide was strongly mediated by the fatty acids. This interaction between nanogels and monolayer components is dominated by hydrophobic-hydrophobic binding. The data show the important intermediary role of the fatty acid in facilitating transmembrane transport. For a pure ceramide lipid monolayer, the neutron reflectivity (NR), Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) and surface pressure results showed a lipid-nanogel complex formation and the subsequent depletion/solubilisation of the lipids from the interface when the area per molecule for the lipid was increased from 42 to 44 Ų.