Fluorescence Turn-on Synthetic Lipid Rafts on Supramolecular Sheets and Hierarchical Concanavalin A Assembly.

Here we report fluorescence turn-on synthetic lipid rafts by self-assembly of a cationic distyrylanthracene derivative on a negatively-charged sheet in an aqueous solution. First, the negatively-charged 2D membrane structure is formed by lateral associations of aromatic rods with carboxylate groups. Then, the synthetic rafts are provided floating on the surface of the negatively-charged sheets through electrostatic interactions. The fluorescence of the synthetic rafts is turned on due to the aggregation of positively-charged AIE dye on the sheets, facilitating monitoring for the formation of rafts. Concanavalin A (Con A) protein in neutral pH can load hierarchically into the synthetic rafts to provide discrete Con A aggregates with a uniform size ~12 nm. The uniform aggregates of Con A on the synthetic rafts can stimulate Jurkat cell with enhanced efficiency, compared with random-sized aggregates of Con A.