No abstract

Nanomaterials have great potential to offer effective treatment against devastating diseases by providing sustained release of high concentrations of therapeutic agents locally, especially when the route of administration allows for direct access to the diseased tissues. Biodegradable polyphosphoester-based polymeric micelles and shell cross-linked knedel-like nanoparticles (SCKs) have been designed from amphiphilic block-graft terpolymers, PEBP-b-PBYP-g-PEG, which effectively incorporate high concentrations of paclitaxel (PTX). Well-dispersed nanoparticles physically loaded with PTX were prepared, exhibiting desirable physiochemical characteristics. Encapsulation of 10 wt% PTX, into either micelles or SCKs, allowed for aqueous suspension of PTX at concentrations up to 4.8 mg/mL, as compared to <2.0 μg/mL for the aqueous solubility of the drug alone. Drug release studies indicated that PTX released from these nanostructures was defined through a structure-function relationship, whereby the half-life of sustained PTX release was doubled through cross-linking of the micellar structure to form SCKs. In vitro, physically loaded micellar and SCK nanotherapeutics demonstrated IC50 values against osteosarcoma cell lines, known to metastasize to the lungs (CCH-OS-O and SJSA), similar to the pharmaceutical Taxol formulation. Evaluation of these materials in vivo has provided an understanding of the effects of nanoparticle structure-function relationships on intratracheal delivery and related biodistribution and pharmacokinetics. Overall, we have demonstrated the potential of these novel nanotherapeutics toward future sustained release treatments via administration directly to the sites of lung metastases of osteosarcoma.

We present high-resolution, all-optical thermometry based on ensembles of germanium-vacancy (GeV) color center in diamond and implement this method of thermometry in the fiber-optic format. Due to the unique properties of diamond, an all-optical approach using this method opens a way to produce back-action-free temperature measurements with resolution below 0.1 K in a wide range of temperatures.

A facile N2 flow-accelerated N-carboxyanhydride ring opening polymerization (NCA ROP) is demonstrated, herein, with rigorous kinetic studies to evaluate the methodology in detail. By using n-hexylamine as initiator and γ-benzyl-L-glutamate N-carboxyanhydride (BLG-NCA) as monomer, the NCA ROP via a normal amine mechanism (NAM) reached 90% conversion in 2 h under N2 flow at room temperature in a fume hood, much shorter than the time required for the same polymerization conducted in a glove box (14 h). The efficient removal of CO2 from the reaction by N2 flow drove the carbamic acid-amine equilibrium toward the formation of active nucleophilic amino termini and promoted polymerization. The detailed kinetic studies of the polymerization with different feed ratios and N2 flow rates were conducted, demonstrating the living feature of the NCA ROP and the tuning of the polymerization rate by simply changing the flow rate of N2. Maintenance of the reactivity of the amino ω-chain terminus and control during a subsequent polymerization were confirmed by performing chain extension reactions. The N2 flow method provides a new straightforward strategy to synthesize well-defined polypeptides with predictable molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions (PDI < 1.19).

HighlightScreening revealed that the action of miR319/TCP4 in serving as a systemic defensive responder and regulator that modulated the RKN systemic defensive response was mediated via JA.

The construction of amphiphilic polycarbonates through epoxides/CO2 coupling is a challenging aim to provide more diverse CO2 -based functional materials. In this report, we demonstrate the facile preparation of diverse and functional nanoparticles derived from a CO2 -based triblock polycarbonate system. By the judicious use of water as chain-transfer reagent in the propylene oxide/CO2 polymerization, poly(propylene carbonate (PPC) diols are successfully produced and serve as macroinitiators in the subsequent allyl glycidyl ether/CO2 coupling reaction. The resulting ABA triblock polycarbonate can be further functionalized with various thiols by radical mediated thiol-ene click chemistry, followed by self-assembly in deionized water to construct a versatile and functional nanostructure system. This class of amphiphilic polycarbonates could embody a powerful platform for biomedical applications.

There has been an increasing interest to develop new types of stimuli-responsive drug delivery vehicles with high drug loading and controlled release properties for chemotherapeutics. An acid-labile, polyphosphoester-based degradable, polymeric paclitaxel (PTX) conjugate containing ultra-high levels of PTX loading has been improved significantly, in this second generation development, which involves connection of each PTX molecule to the polymer backbone via a pH-sensitive β-thiopropionate linkage. The results for this system indicate that it has great potential as an effective anti-cancer agent. Poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polyphosphoester-graft-PTX drug conjugate (PEO-b-PPE-g-PTX G2) was synthesized by organocatalyst-promoted ring-opening polymerization of 2-(but-3-en-1-yloxy)-1,3,2-dioxaphospholane-2-oxide from a PEO macroinitiator, followed by thermo-promoted thiolene click conjugation of a thiol-functionalized PTX prodrug to the pendant alkene groups of the block copolymer. The PEO-b-PPE-g-PTX G2 formed well-defined nanoparticles in aqueous solution, by direct dissolution into water, with a number-averaged hydrodynamic diameter of 114 ± 31 nm. The conjugate had PTX loading capacity as high as 53 wt%, and a maximum PTX concentration of 0.68 mg/mL in water (vs. 1.7 μg/mL for free PTX). Although the PTX concentration is ca. 10× less than for our first generation material, its accelerated release allowed for similar free PTX concentrations vs. time. The PEO-b-PPE-g-PTX G2 exhibited accelerated drug release under acidic conditions (~50 wt% PTX released in 8 d) compared to neutral conditions (~20 wt% PTX released in 8 d) and compared to the first generation analog that contained ester linkages between PTX and the polymer backbone (<5 wt% PTX released in 4 d), due to their acid-sensitive hydrolytically-labile β-thiopropionate linkages between PTX molecules and the polymer backbone. The positive cell-killing activity of PEO-b-PPE-g-PTX G2 against two cancer cell lines was demonstrated, and the presence of pendant reactive functionality provides a powerful platform for future work to involve conjugation of multiple numbers and/or types of targeting ligands, other drugs and imaging agents to achieve chemotherapy and bioimaging. Compared to our previously reported polyphosphoester-based PTX drug conjugates, PEO-b-PPE-g-PTX G1 without the β-thiopropionate linker, the PEO-b-PPE-g-PTX G2 showed pH-triggered drug release property and 5-to-8-fold enhanced in vitro cytotoxcity against two cancer cell lines.

Although nanomedicines have been pursued for nearly 20 years, fundamental chemical strategies that seek to optimize both the drug and drug carrier together in a concerted effort remain uncommon yet may be powerful. In this work, two block polymers and one dimeric prodrug molecule were designed to be coassembled into degradable, functional nanocarriers, where the chemistry of each component was defined to accomplish important tasks. The result is a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-protected redox-responsive dimeric paclitaxel (diPTX)-loaded cationic poly(d-glucose carbonate) micelle (diPTX@CPGC). These nanostructures showed tunable sizes and surface charges and displayed controlled PTX drug release profiles in the presence of reducing agents, such as glutathione (GSH) and dithiothreitol (DTT), thereby resulting in significant selectivity for killing cancer cells over healthy cells. Compared to free PTX and diPTX, diPTX@CPGC exhibited improved tumor penetration and significant inhibition of tumor cell growth toward osteosarcoma (OS) lung metastases with minimal side effects both in vitro and in vivo, indicating the promise of diPTX@CPGC as optimized anticancer therapeutic agents for treatment of OS lung metastases.