Interfacial electrostatics of poly(vinylamine hydrochloride), poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), poly-L-lysine, and poly-L-arginine interacting with lipid bilayers

Charge densities of cationic polymers adsorbed to lipid bilayers are estimated from second harmonic generation (SHG) spectroscopy and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) measurements. The systems surveyed included poly(vinylamine hydrochloride) (PVAm), poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC), poly-L-lysine (PLL), and poly-L-arginine (PLR), as well as polyalcohol controls. Upon accounting for the number of positive charges associated with each polyelectrolyte, the binding constants and apparent free energies of adsorption as estimated from SHG data are comparable despite differences in molecular masses and molecular structure, with ΔGads values of −61 ± 2, −58 ± 2, −57 ± 1, −52 ± 2, −52 ± 1 kJ mol−1 for PDADMAC400, PDADMAC100, PVAm, PLL, and PLR, respectively. Moreover, we find charge densities for polymer adlayers of approximately 0.3 C m−2 for poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) while those of poly(vinylamine) hydrochloride, poly-L-lysine, and poly-L-arginine are approximately 0.2 C m−2. Time-dependent studies indicate that polycation adsorption to supported lipid bilayers is only partially reversible for most of the polymers explored. Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) does not demonstrate reversible binding even over long timescales (>8 hours).