Abstract Glycovesicles mimic synthetic cell membrane surfaces and aid to delineate intricate, weak carbohydrate–protein interactions. In this report, the dependence of the hydrodynamic diameters in relation to the molar fractions of carbohydrate moieties in the mixed polydiacetylene (PDA) glycovesicles is evaluated. The glycovesicles are constituted with diacetylene monomers of varying molar fractions of carbohydrate moieties and the hydrodynamic diameters are assessed without and with polymerization of the vesicles. A strong dependence of the hydrodynamic diameter of glycovesicles is seen as a function of the molar fractions and the nature of the sugar moiety being either mono- or disaccharide. A monotonous increase in the hydrodynamic diameters of the glycovesicles occurs with the increase in mole fractions of the sugar monomer lipids. Upon polymerization, the hydrodynamic diameters reduce for the vesicles with lower mole fractions of sugar monomer, whereas the reverse occurs for glycovesicles possessing higher mole fractions. Disaccharide glycovesicles possess higher hydrodynamic diameters than monosaccharide-containing vesicles. Ligand–lectin interactions were probed with lactose disaccharide-containing glycovesicles with tetrameric peanut agglutinin lectin, from which an increase in the hydrodynamic diameters is observed, as the mole fraction of sugar monomer is increased in the PDA-glycovesicles.
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