Applications in controlled release and delivery calls for a good understanding of molecular transport within the carrier material and the dominating release mechanisms. It is clear that a better understanding of hindered transport and diffusion of guest molecules is important when developing new porous materials, e.g., surfactant templated silica spheres, for biotechnological applications. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to quantify the bulk release and intraparticle transport of small charged fluorescent dyes, and fluorescently-tagged neutral dextran, from mesoporous silica spheres. The time dependent release and the concentration profiles within the spheres have been used to analyze the release mechanisms using appropriate models. While the small, non-adsorbing anionic dye is released following a simple diffusion driven process, the concentration of the cationic dye varies radially within the spheres after loading. The release of the cationic dye is controlled by diffusion after an initial period of rapid release, which could be due to a significant fraction of the cationic dye that remains permanently attached to the negatively charged walls of the mesoporous silica spheres. The diffusion of dextran and the resulting flat concentration profiles could be related to the complex structural feature of the cylindrical pores close to the surface, and a possible conformational change of the dextran with the concentration. The stability and leaching of a catalytic enzyme, lipase, immobilized in hydrophobilized mesoporous support has also been quantified. Colloidal monodisperse mesoporous silica spheres were synthesized and transmission electron microscopy showed that the inner pore structure display a radially extending pores. The mesoporous spheres were used as solid supports for a lipid membrane incorporated with a multi-subunit redox-driven proton pump, which was shown to remain functional.

The processes localized to biological membranes are of great interest, both from a scientific and pharmaceutical point of view. Understanding aspects such as the detailed mechanism and regulation of these processes requires investigation of the structure and function of the membrane-bound proteins in which they take place. The study of these processes is often complicated by the need to create in vitro systems that mimic the environment in which these proteins are normally found in vivo. This thesis describes some of the methods available for membrane-protein studies in membrane-mimetic systems, as well as our work aimed at developing such systems. Furthermore, results from studies using these systems are described.

In the first two studies, described in Papers I & II, we investigated the use of silica particle-supported lipid bilayers, both for membrane-protein studies and as possible drug-delivery vehicles. Successful reconstitution of a multisubunit proton-pump, cytochrome c oxidase is described and characterized. Initial attempts to develop drug-delivery systems with two different targeting peptides are also described in the thesis.

The second part of this thesis revolves around our work with membraneprotein dependent pathways. Results from studies of systems where the proton- pump bo₃ oxidase and ATP synthase work in concert are described. The results show a surprising lipid-composition dependence for the coupled bo₃- ATP-synthase activity (Paper III).

Finally, a new system utilizing synaptic vesicle-fusion proteins for coreconstitution of membrane proteins is described, showing successful coreconstitution of a small respiratory chain, delivery of soluble proteins to preformed liposomes and reconstitution of ATP synthase in native membranes (Paper IV).