Fig. 3: The mechanism of L^PB-3 vesicles pH-mediated reversible self-assembly.

a Different acids used to investigate the self-assembly of L^PB-3 vesicles. b Trends in particle size and zeta potential of L^PB-3 vesicles under various pH conditions. Data are displayed as mean ± SD of n = 3 independent measurements. c Schematic representation of the acid-base mediated reversible assembly of vesicles. d Real-time detection of the UV-vis spectra of the aqueous solution of vesicles during the polymerization–depolymerization process. e–g Particle size changes in L^PB-3 vesicles during repeated depolymerization and reassembly. h Coarse-graining simulation of the aggregation process involving 35,000 L^PB-3 molecules in an acidic environment; coarse-graining water molecules are not shown. i Coarse-graining simulation of the deaggregation process involving the same aggregation structure of 35,000 L^PB-3 molecules in an alkaline environment; coarse-graining water molecules are not shown. Relative concentration profiles of the hydrophilic part (dotted lines) and the hydrophobic part (solid lines) in the SSB molecules along the X-axis (red lines), Y-axis (blue lines) and Z-axis (magenta lines) during the last 1 μs Coarse-Graining simulations of the model for j the aggregation simulation and the model for k the deaggregation simulation.