Kinetic study of cell disruption by ionic polymers with varied charge density

The effect of charge density and hydrophobicity of the polymeric cations on cell disruption is studied thermodynamically and kinetically by using the budding yeast protoplast. It is found that cationic polymers drastically di srupt the cells above a certain concentration while nonionic and anionic on es do not. Reduced charge density of copolymers of cationic and nonionic mo nomers resulted in decreased cell disruption. However, it is further experi mentally proved that the disruption of the cells occurs only when the polyc ation has a certain hydrophobicity. The stronger the hydrophobicity of the cationic polymer, the more cooperatively the cells are disrupted.