Stimulus-Responsive Nanoconjugates Derived from Phytoglycogen Nanoparticles

Abstract

Plant-derived phytoglycogen nanoparticles (PhG NPs) have the advantages of size uniformity, dispersibility in water, excellent lubrication properties, and lack of cytotoxicity; however, their chemical functionalization may lead to loss of NP structural integrity. Here, we report a straightforward approach to the generation of PhG NP conjugates with biologically active molecules. Hydrogen bonding of bovine serum albumin with electroneutral PhG NPs endows them with additional ligand binding affinity and enables the electrostatically governed attachment of methotrexate (MTX), a therapeutic agent commonly used in the treatment of cancer and arthritis diseases, to the protein-capped NPs. We showed stimuli-responsive release of MTX from the PhG-based nanoconjugates under physiological cues such as temperature and ionic strength. The results of this study stimulate future exploration of biomedical applications of nanoconjugates of PhG NPs.

Charge, Aspect Ratio, and Plant Species Affect Uptake Efficiency and Translocation of Polymeric Agrochemical Nanocarriers

“…Moreover, limited biodegradability may lead to accumulation in the food chain . Future studies should therefore develop nanocarriers with a similar physical size and charge as those used here but using biodegradable polymers or natural polymers such as chitosan, cellulose or other polysaccharides, or silk or other peptides to address any potential concerns regarding biodegradability and biocompatibility. − Here, we also only evaluated the short-term plant uptake and translocation behaviors of polymer nanocarriers. The long-term fate of nanocarriers needs to be explored, especially their potential transport into crop grains, fruits, and other edible parts of the plant .…”

Temperature-Responsive Bottlebrush Polymers Deliver a Stress-Regulating Agent In Vivo for Prolonged Plant Heat Stress Mitigation

“…The current temperature-responsive polymer bottlebrushes are made with synthetic polymers that are biocompatible but are poorly biodegradable, which limit their sustainability . Future work can leverage the nanocarrier design rules learned here and develop more sustainable agrochemical carriers with more biodegradable biomaterials such as stimuli-responsive peptides, , proteins, sophorolipids, and polysaccharides . Better understanding of the translocation of polymer nanocarriers to the edible parts of crop plants, such as the fruits or grains, is also needed to assess the potential for exposure to these materials through diet.…”

“… 31 Future work can leverage the nanocarrier design rules learned here and develop more sustainable agrochemical carriers with more biodegradable biomaterials such as stimuli-responsive peptides, 67 , 68 proteins, 14 sophorolipids, 69 and polysaccharides. 70 Better understanding of the translocation of polymer nanocarriers to the edible parts of crop plants, such as the fruits or grains, is also needed to assess the potential for exposure to these materials through diet. Here, we assessed the uptake of the polymer nanocarriers in tomato plants (a dicot) with particular leaf properties such as stomatal density, cuticle thickness, and trichome density.…”

Nanogels designed for cell-free nucleic acid sequestration

“…A one-site binding model was applied to obtain the thermodynamic parameters from the best fits. 43 Fig. 3b, solid lines show that in 15 mM PBS buffer, interactions between cfDNA and cNG 570 resulted in a characteristic binding curve which plateaued at a high molar ratio of cfDNA-to-cNG 570 , thus suggesting that multiple cfDNA molecules bound to one cNG.…”