Polymer Nanoparticles with Uniform Monomer Sequences for Sequence‐Specific Peptide Recognition

Abstract

Synthetic polymer nanoparticles (NPs) that recognize and neutralize target biomacromolecules are of considerable interest as "plastic antibodies", synthetic mimics of antibodies. However, monomer sequences in the synthetic NPs are heterogeneous. The heterogeneity limits the target specificity and safety of the NPs. Herein, we report the synthesis of NPs with uniform monomer sequences for recognition and neutralization of target peptides. A multifunctional oligomer with a precise monomer sequence that recognizes the target peptide was prepared via cycles of reversible additionfragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and flash chromatography. The oligomer or blend of oligomers was used as a chain transfer agent and introduced into poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) hydrogel NPs by radical polymerization. Evaluation of the interaction with the peptides revealed that multiple oligomers in NPs cooperatively recognized the sequence of the target peptide and neutralized its toxicity. Effect of sequence, combination, density and molecular weight distribution of precision oligomers on the affinity to the peptides was also investigated.

Cationic Single-Unit Monomer Insertion (cSUMI): From Discrete Oligomers to the α-/ω-End and In-Chain Sequence-Regulated Polymers

“…Sequence-defined macromolecules have been reported to be used in fields such as information coding and antimicrobial applications. More importantly, depending on the precise chemistry and spatial structure, the specific interactions between the precise polymers themselves or with other molecules spawn a series of novel biomimetic functions, such as bioorthogonal reactions, hierarchical self-assembly, drug-specific carriers, recognition of toxicity, and specific adhesion . Therefore, we synthesized a series of water-soluble poly­(3-methyl-1-(2-(vinyloxy)­ethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium) ( PMICE ) with functionalized sequence-regulated α-ends ( X1 - X2 ) to screen the carriers that can interact specifically with photosensitizers or fluorescent probes (Figure C,H).…”

Coupled adsorption and photocatalysis: A green synthesized g‐C3N4@Mn–FeOOH@molecularly imprinted photocatalysis system for targeted removal of various heterocyclic amines

“…Increasing the proportion of functional monomers is favorable to the formation of binding sites for the target, but if the proportion is too large, it will increase the number of functional monomers that are not involved in the assembly, which may lead to the generation of nonspecific pores. Meanwhile, an excess of functional monomers will self‐polymerize and reduce the number of selective binding sites (Saito et al., 2022). The superfluous cross‐linking agent will form a high hardness block polymer, making it difficult for the template molecules to elute and the adsorption sites to be occupied.…”

Versatile strategies to tailor the glass transition temperatures of bottlebrush polymers

“…Artificial blends of precision polymers offer a significant promise for preparing multifunctional materials with precisely tunable properties. 22,[34][35][36][37][38][39]54 To address the gaps between unique T g,∞BB at different N SC , we hypothesized that a binary blend of PBP can be prepared to afford a chemically homogeneous mixture with its T g located between the unique T g,∞BB of each component. To test this hypothesis, we examined the T g of PBP-S2 13 (A, T g,∞BB = 35 °C), PBP-S8 12 (B, T g,∞BB = 74 °C) and their artificial blends (4 samples, w A : w B = 3 : 1, 2 : 1, 1 : 1, and 1 : 3, respectively, Fig.…”