Photo-controlled delivery of very long chain fatty acids to cell membranes and modulation of membrane protein function

The biophysical properties and biological functions of membranes are highly dependent on lipid composition. Supplementing cellular membranes with very long chain fatty acids (vlcFAs) is notoriously difficult given the extreme insolubility of vlcFAs in aqueous solution. Herein, we report a solvent-free, photochemical approach to enrich target membranes with vlcFA. To prevent aggregation of vlcFA, we created light-sensitive micelles composed...