Search results for "hydrophilic"

Aggregation behavior of amphiphilic p(HPMA)-co-p(LMA) copolymers studied by FCS and EPR spectroscopy.

2012

A combined study of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy gave a unique picture of p(HPMA)-co-p(LMA) copolymers in aqueous solutions, ranging from the size of micelles and aggregates to the composition of the interior of these self-assembled systems. P(HPMA)-co-p(LMA) copolymers have shown high potential as brain drug delivery systems, and a detailed study of their physicochemical properties can help to elucidate their mechanism of action. Applying two complementary techniques, we found that the self-assembly behavior as well as the strength of hydrophobic attraction of the amphiphilic copolymers can be tuned by the hydrophobic LMA content or…

Functionalization of Liposomes with Hydrophilic Polymers Results in Macrophage Uptake Independent of the Protein Corona

2019

Liposomes are established drug carriers that are employed to transport and deliver hydrophilic drugs in the body. To minimize unspecific cellular uptake, nanocarriers are commonly modified with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), which is known to minimize unspecific protein adsorption. However, to date, it has not been studied whether this is an intrinsic and specific property of PEG or if it can be transferred to hyperbranched polyglycerol (hbPG) as well. Additionally, it remains unclear if the reduction of unspecific cell uptake is independent of the “basic” carrier at which a surface functionalization with polymers is usually applied. Therefore, we studied the protein corona of differently fun…

HPMA copolymers as surfactants in the preparation of biocompatible nanoparticles for biomedical application.

2012

In this work we describe the application of amphiphilic N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA)-based copolymers as polymeric surfactants in miniemulsion techniques. HPMA-based copolymers with different ratios of HPMA (hydrophilic) to laurylmethacrylate (LMA; hydrophobic) units were synthesized by RAFT polymerization and postpolymerization modification. The amphiphilic polymers can act as detergents in both the miniemulsion polymerization of styrene and the miniemulsion process in combination with solvent evaporation, which was applied to polystyrene and polylactide. Under optimized conditions, monodisperse colloids can be prepared. The most promising results could be obtained by using the…

Synthesis of Novel Folic Acid-Functionalized Biocompatible Block Copolymers by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization for Gene Delivery and Encapsulati…

2005

Two synthetic routes to folic acid (FA)-functionalized diblock copolymers based on 2-(methacryloyloxy)- ethyl phosphorylcholine [MPC] and either 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate [DMA] or 2-(diisopropylamino) ethyl methacrylate [DPA] were explored. The most successful route involved atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of MPC followed by the tertiary amine methacrylate using a 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (Fmoc)-protected ATRP initiator. Deprotection of the Fmoc groups produced terminal primary amine groups, which were conjugated with FA to produce two series of novel FA-functionalized biocompatible block copolymers. Nonfunctionalized MPC-DMA diblock copolymers have been previou…

Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Nanostripes in Lipopolymer Monolayers

2000

Temperature-controlled poly(propylene) glycol hydrophobicity on the formation of inclusion complexes with modified cyclodextrins. A DSC and ITC study.

2011

The study highlighted the main forces driving the formation of hydroxypropyl-cyclodextrins (HP-CDs) + poly(propylene) glycol 725 g mol(-1) inclusion complexes. The temperature parameter was chosen as the variable to modulate the hydrophobicity of the polymer, and consequently ITC experiments as functions of temperature as well as DSC measurements were done in a systematic way. The polymer is not included into HP-α-CD, it is strongly bound to HP-β-CD and it is floating in HP-γ-CD. The stability of the inclusion complexes is entropy controlled. The gain of the entropy is a unique result compared to the opposite literature findings for inclusion complexes based on polymers and CDs. This peculi…

Polymeric matrix hydrophobicity governs saponin packing-density on nanoparticle surface and the subsequent biological interactions.

2020

Abstract This study investigated the loading behavior of Quillaja saponin as a model surface-active cargo on (NP) nanoparticles prepared with various hydrophobic polymers and using different organic solvents through emulsification/solvent evaporation, and the impact of NP surface hydrophobicity upon the cytotoxic and hemolytic properties of the loaded entity. A superficial monolayered arrangement of saponins on NP was established (R2 > 0.9) for all NP, as the saponin loading values complied with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm over the entire concentration range. Next, based on the measurement of interfacial tension between formulation phases, and the subsequent use of Gibb’s adsorption is…

Folding and insertion of transmembrane helices at the ER

2021

In eukaryotic cells, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the entry point for newly synthesized proteins that are subsequently distributed to organelles of the endomembrane system. Some of these proteins are completely translocated into the lumen of the ER while others integrate stretches of amino acids into the greasy 30 Å wide interior of the ER membrane bilayer. It is generally accepted that to exist in this non-aqueous environment the majority of membrane integrated amino acids are primarily non-polar/hydrophobic and adopt an α-helical conformation. These stretches are typically around 20 amino acids long and are known as transmembrane (TM) helices. In this review, we will consider how tra…

Sequence Determines Degree of Knottedness in a Coarse-Grained Protein Model

2015

Knots are abundant in globular homopolymers but rare in globular proteins. To shed new light on this long-standing conundrum, we study the influence of sequence on the formation of knots in proteins under native conditions within the framework of the hydrophobic-polar (HP) lattice protein model. By employing large scale Wang-Landau simulations combined with suitable Monte Carlo trial moves we show that, even though knots are still abundant on average, sequence introduces large variability in the degree of self-entanglements. Moreover, we are able to design sequences which are either almost always or almost never knotted. Our findings serve as proof of concept that the introduction of just o…

Hydrophilicity Regulates the Stealth Properties of Polyphosphoester‐Coated Nanocarriers

2018

Increasing the plasma half-life is an important goal in the development of drug carriers, and can be effectively achieved through the attachment of polymers, in particular poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). While the increased plasma half-life has been suggested to be a result of decreased overall protein adsorption on the hydrophilic surface in combination with the adsorption of specific proteins, the molecular reasons for the success of PEG and other hydrophilic polymers are still widely unknown. We prepared polyphosphoester-coated nanocarriers with defined hydrophilicity to control the stealth properties of the polymer shell. We found that the log P value of the copolymer controls the composit…