Antifouling surfaces are important in a broad range of applications. An effective approach to antifouling surfaces is to covalently attach antifouling polymer brushes. This work reports the synthesis of a new class of antifouling polymer brushes based on highly hydrophilic sulfoxide polymers by surface-initiated photoinduced electron/energy transfer-reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (PET-RAFT) polymerization. The sulfoxide polymer brushes are able to effectively reduce nonspecific adsorption of proteins and cells, demonstrating remarkable antifouling properties. Given the outstanding antifouling behavior of the sulfoxide polymers and versatility of surface-initiated PET-RAFT technology, this work presents a useful and general approach to engineering various material surfaces with antifouling properties, for potential biomedical applications in areas such as tissue engineering, medical implants, and regenerative medicine.
Liquid metal nanoparticles (LMNPs) have recently attracted much attention as soft functional materials for various biorelated applications. Despite the fact that several reports demonstrate highly stable LMNPs in aqueous solutions or organic solvents, it is still challenging to stabilize LMNPs in biological media with complex ionic environments. LMNPs grafted with functional polymers (polymers/LMNPs) have been fabricated for maintaining their colloidal and chemical stability; however, to the best of our knowledge, no related work has been conducted to systematically investigate the effect of anchoring groups on the stability of LMNPs. Herein, various anchoring groups, including phosphonic acids, trithiolcarbonates, thiols, and carboxylic acids, are incorporated into brush polymers via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to graft LMNPs. Both the colloidal and chemical stability of such polymer/LMNP systems are then investigated in various biological media. Moreover, the influence of multidentate ligands is also investigated by incorporating different numbers of carboxylic or phosphonic acid into the brush polymers. We discover that increasing the number of anchoring groups enhances the colloidal stability of LMNPs, while polymers bearing phosphonic acids provide the optimum chemical stability for LMNPs due to surface passivation. Thus, polymers bearing multidentate phosphonic acids are desirable to decorate LMNPs to meet complex environments for biological studies.
Magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) assemblies have demonstrated great potential in biomedical applications due to their controllable magnetic properties and collective functions. Among the versatile approaches to obtaining MNP assemblies, polymer-assisted assembling methods offer unique advances, by which the assembled nanostructures could exert the merits of both the inorganic magnetic nanoparticles and organic polymeric materials to realize combined advantages for medical diagnosis and treatment. Precise control over the interactions among different building moieties and spatial organization of magnetic nanoparticles with the aid of polymers provides promising strategies in manipulating the physical, chemical, and biological properties of nanoassemblies for biomedical applications. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of polymer-assisted MNP assemblies, which include the mutual interactions between building blocks, architectural diversity of the assemblies, and their synthetic strategies along with biomedical applications. The current review provides a comprehensive insight into controlled and intelligent nanomedicines, which shall facilitate the development of next-generation high-performance theranostic agents based on MNP assemblies.
The conjugation of hydrophilic polymers to proteins is an effective approach to prolonging their circulation time in the bloodstream and, hence, improving their delivery to the target region of interest. In this work, we report the synthesis of protein−polymer conjugates using a highly water-soluble sulfoxide-containing polymer, poly(2-(methylsulfinyl)ethyl acrylate) (PMSEA), through a combination of "grafting-to" and "graftingfrom" methods. Oligomeric MSEA was synthesized by conventional reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and subsequently conjugated to lysozyme to produce a macromolecular chain transfer agent. This was followed by a visible lightmediated chain extension polymerization of MSEA to obtain a lysozyme−PMSEA conjugate (Lyz-PMSEA). It was found that the Lyz-PMSEA conjugate exhibited much reduced macrophage cellular uptake compared with unmodified and PEGylated lysozyme. Moreover, the Lyz-PMSEA conjugate was able to circulate longer in the bloodstream, demonstrating significantly improved pharmacokinetics demanded for pharmaceutical applications.
Despite many early accomplishments in nanomaterial design and synthesis, there remains a significant requirement for novel inorganic and organic nanohybrids with the potential to act as efficacious molecular imaging agents and theranostic vectors. The functionalization of surfactantcoated inorganic nanoparticles with polymer shells represents one of the most suitable and popular methods to synthesize polymer/inorganic nanohybrids for theranostic applications. Key requirements for effective imaging agent design include water dispersibility, biocompatibility and functionality to enable enhanced contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron-emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT), or ultrasound modalities. In this Perspective, we highlight recent advances in the fabrication of organic/inorganic nanohybrids exploiting functionalized polymers prepared using reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The polymer shells can imbue favorable traits to the nanoparticles such as stealth, image enhancement, storage (and release) of therapeutics, and sensitivity to biological stimuli. In this Perspective, we discuss the design and synthesis of hybrid nanoparticles and discuss current trends and future opportunities.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.