Theory of Multiple-Detection Size-Exclusion Chromatography of Complex Branched Polymers

Effects of the Molecular Structure of Starch in Foods on Human Health

Starch provides approximately half of humans' food energy, and its structural features influence human health. The most important structural feature is the chain length distribution (CLD), which affects properties such as the digestibility of starch-containing foods. The rate of digestion of such foods has a strong correlation with the prevalence and treatment of diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. Starch CLDs can be divided into multiple regions of degrees of polymerization, wherein the CLD in a given region is predominantly, but not exclusively, formed by a particular set of starch biosynthesis enzymes: starch synthases, starch branching enzymes and debranching enzymes. Biosynthesis-based models have been developed relating the ratios of the various enzyme activities in each set to the CLD component produced by that set. Fitting the observed CLDs to these models yields a small number of biosynthesis-related parameters, which, taken together, describe the entire CLD. This review highlights how CLDs can be measured and how the model-based parameters obtained from fitting these distributions are related to the properties of starch-based foods significant for health, and it considers how this knowledge could be used to develop plant varieties to provide foods with improved properties.

Characterization of Polyisobutylene Succinic Anhydride (PIBSA) and Its PIBSI Products from the Reaction of PIBSA with Hexamethylene Diamine

The nature of the end-groups of a PIBSA sample, namely a polyisobutylene (PIB) sample, where each chain is supposedly terminated at one end with a single succinic anhydride group, was characterized through a combination of pyrene excimer fluorescence (PEF), gel permeation chromatography, and simulations. The PIBSA sample was reacted with different molar ratios of hexamethylene diamine to generate PIBSI molecules with succinimide (SI) groups in the corresponding reaction mixtures. The molecular weight distribution (MWD) of the different reaction mixtures was determined by fitting the gel permeation chromatography traces with sums of Gaussians. Comparison of the experimental MWD of the reaction mixtures with those simulated by assuming that the reaction between succinic anhydride and amine occurs through stochastic encounters led to the conclusion that 36 wt% of the PIBSA sample constituted unmaleated PIB chains. Based on this analysis, the PIBSA sample was found to be constituted of 0.50, 0.38, and 0.12 molar fractions of PIB chains that were singly maleated, unmaleated, and doubly maleated, respectively.

The Global Characterisation of a Drug-Dendrimer Conjugate - PEGylated poly-lysine Dendrimer

The recent emergence of drug-dendrimer conjugates within pharmaceutical industry research and development introduces a range of challenges for analytical and measurement science. These molecules are very high molecular weight (100-200kDa) with a significant degree of structural complexity. The characteristics and quality attributes that require understanding and definition, and impact efficacy and safety, are diverse. They relate to the intact conjugate, the various building blocks of these complex systems and the level of the free and bound active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). From an analytical and measurement science perspective, this necessitates the measurement of the molecular weight, impurity characterisation, the quantitation of the number of conjugated versus free API molecules, the determination of the impurity profiles of the building blocks, primary structure and both particle size and morphology. Here we report the first example of a global characterisation of a drug-dendrimer conjugate - PEGylated poly-lysine dendrimer currently under development (AZD0466). The impact of the wide variety of analytical and measurement techniques on the overall understanding of this complex molecular entity is discussed, with the relative capabilities of the various approaches compared. The results of this study are an essential platform for the research and development of the future generations of related dendrimer-based medicines.

Quantification of branching within high molecular weight polymers with polyester backbones formed by transfer-dominated branching radical telomerisation (TBRT)

New branched polymerisations offer previously inaccessible macromolecules and architectural understanding is important as it provides insight into the branching mechanism and enables the determination of structure–property relationships. Here we present a detailed inverse gated ¹³C NMR characterisation of materials derived from the very recently reported Transfer-dominated Branching Radical Telomerisation (TBRT) approach to quantify branching and provide an insight into cyclisation.

The characterisation and quantification of branching is key to understanding new complex macromolecules. Here we establish approaches to evaluate the unique and novel architectures formed by Transfer-dominated Branching Radical Telomerisation (TBRT).

Origin of Hypoglycemic Benefits of Probiotic-Fermented Carrot Pulp

It has been found that probiotic-fermented carrot pulp has a beneficial effect in reducing blood glucose, more so than unfermented pulp. This paper explores the reason for this by looking at fermentation-induced changes in nutritional components and hypoglycemic effects of its polysaccharides. Micronutrient content showed minor changes, except for titratable acidity. Fat and protein decreased, while total carbohydrates increased. These polysaccharides are pectinic, and the number of total polysaccharides rose after fermentation. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the morphology changed from filamentous solid to spiral. The molecular weight of water-soluble polysaccharide (WSP) diminished after fermentation, while those of acid- and alkali-soluble polysaccharides increased. WSP had stronger hydroxyl radical scavenging activity in vitro, and WSP from probiotic-fermented carrot pulps showed better hypoglycemic effects than WSP from non-fermented carrot pulps in animal experiments. Thus, the fermentation-induced improvement in diabetes control from fermented carrot pulp probably arises from its WSP.

Exploring glycogen biosynthesis through Monte Carlo simulation

Glycogen, a complex branched polymer of glucose (average chain length ~10 monomer units), is the blood-sugar reservoir in humans and other animals. Certain aspects of its molecular structure relevant to its biological functions are currently unamenable to experimental exploration. Knowledge of these is needed to develop future models for quantitative data-fitting to obtain mechanistic understanding of the biosynthetic processes that give rise to glycogen structure. Monte Carlo simulations of the biosynthesis of this structure with realistic macromolecular parameters reveal how chain growth and stoppage (the latter assumed to be through both the action of glycogen branching enzyme and other degradative enzymes, and by hindrance) control structural features. The simulated chain-length, pair-distance and radial density distributions agree semi-quantitatively with the limited available data. The simulations indicate that a steady state in molecular structure and size is rapidly obtained, that molecular density reaches a maximum near the center of the particle (not at the periphery, as is the case with dendrimers), and that particle size is controlled by both enzyme activity and hindrance. This knowledge will aid in the understanding of diabetes (loss of blood-sugar control), which has been found to involve subtle differences in glycogen molecular structure.

Determination of the distributions of degrees of acetylation of chitosan

Chitosan is often characterized by its average degree of acetylation. To increase chitosan's use in various industries, a more thorough characterization is necessary as the acetylation of chitosan affects properties such as dissolution and mechanical properties of chitosan films. Despite the poor solubility of chitosan, free solution capillary electrophoresis (CE) allows a robust separation of chitosan by the degree of acetylation. The distribution of degrees of acetylation of various chitosan samples was characterized through their distributions of electrophoretic mobilities. These distributions can be obtained easily and with high precision. The heterogeneity of the chitosan chains in terms of acetylation was characterized through the dispersity of the electrophoretic mobility distributions obtained. The relationship between the number-average degree of acetylation obtained by solid-state NMR spectroscopy and the weight-average electrophoretic mobilities was established. The distribution of degrees of acetylation was determined using capillary electrophoresis in the critical conditions (CE-CC).

Mark–Houwink–Sakurada coefficients determination for molar mass of silk fibroin from viscometric results. SEC-MALLS approach

The results on the changes of average molar masses inBombyx morifibroin with use of size exclusion chromatography and viscometry are presented in terms of the determination of Mark–Houwink–Sakurada coefficients, which are lacking in the literature.

Acid hydrolysis and molecular density of phytoglycogen and liver glycogen helps understand the bonding in glycogen α (composite) particles

Phytoglycogen (from certain mutant plants) and animal glycogen are highly branched glucose polymers with similarities in structural features and molecular size range. Both appear to form composite α particles from smaller β particles. The molecular size distribution of liver glycogen is bimodal, with distinct α and β components, while that of phytoglycogen is monomodal. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the nature of the link between liver-glycogen β particles resulting in the formation of large α particles. It examines the time evolution of the size distribution of these molecules during acid hydrolysis, and the size dependence of the molecular density of both glucans. The monomodal distribution of phytoglycogen decreases uniformly in time with hydrolysis, while with glycogen, the large particles degrade significantly more quickly. The size dependence of the molecular density shows qualitatively different shapes for these two types of molecules. The data, combined with a quantitative model for the evolution of the distribution during degradation, suggest that the bonding between β into α particles is different between phytoglycogen and liver glycogen, with the formation of a glycosidic linkage for phytoglycogen and a covalent or strong non-covalent linkage, most probably involving a protein, for glycogen as most likely. This finding is of importance for diabetes, where α-particle structure is impaired.

Separation and Characterization of Synthetic Polyelectrolytes and Polysaccharides with Capillary Electrophoresis

The development of macromolecular engineering and the need for renewable and sustainable polymer sources make polymeric materials progressively more sophisticated but also increasingly complex to characterize. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC or GPC) has a monopoly in the separation and characterization of polymers, but it faces a number of proven, though regularly ignored, limitations for the characterization of a number of complex samples such as polyelectrolytes and polysaccharides. Free solution capillary electrophoresis (CE), or capillary zone electrophoresis, allows usually more robust separations than SEC due to the absence of a stationary phase. It is, for example, not necessary to filter the samples for analysis with CE. CE is mostly limited to polymers that are charged or can be charged, but in the case of polyelectrolytes it has similarities with liquid chromatography in the critical conditions: it does not separate a charged homopolymer by molar mass. It can thus characterize the topology of a branched polymer, such as poly(acrylic acid), or the purity or composition of copolymers, either natural ones such as pectin, chitosan, and gellan gum or synthetic ones.

Two-dimensional macromolecular distributions reveal detailed architectural features in high-amylose starches

Two-dimensional (2D) structural distributions based on macromolecular size and branch chain-length are obtained for three maize starches with different amylose contents (one normal and two high-amylose varieties). Data were obtained using an analytical methodology combining chemical fractionation, enzymatic debranching, and offline 2D size-exclusion chromatography with multiple detection. The 2D distributions reveal novel features in the branching structure of high-amylose maize starches. Normal maize starch shows well-resolved structural topologies, corresponding to the amylopectin and amylose macromolecular populations. However, high-amylose maize starches exhibit very complex topologies with significant features between those of amylose and amylopectin, showing the presence of distinct intermediate components. These have the macromolecular size of amylose but similar branching structure to amylopectin, except for a higher proportion of longer branches. These structural features of the intermediate components can be related to a less tightly controlled biosynthesis of the branching structures in high-amylose maize starch mutants, which may prevent these molecules from maturing into full-size amylopectin. This altered macromolecular branched architecture of high-amylose starches probably contribute to their better nutritional properties.

Decomposition of size-exclusion chromatography elution curves of complex branched polymers

A new method for the decomposition of non-baseline-resolved multimodal elution curves of SEC with the concentration, light scattering and viscosity detection is presented. The method makes possible the characterization of the polymer-sample components, represented by the peaks forming multimodal elution curves, individually and reduces also the error in the calculation of molecular-weight averages. The procedure is demonstrated on narrow molecular-weight distribution polystyrene standards and their mixture as well as on a grafted polymer sample.

Characterization Methods for Starch-Based Materials: State of the Art and Perspectives

Improving starch-containing materials, whether food, animal feed, high-tech biomaterials, or engineering plastics, is best done by understanding how biosynthetic processes and any subsequent processing control starch structure, and how this structure controls functional properties. Starch structural characterization is central to this. This review examines how information on the three basic levels of the complex multi-scale structure of starch – individual chains, the branching structure of isolated molecules, and the way these molecules form various crystalline and amorphous arrangements – can be obtained from experiment. The techniques include fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis, multiple-detector size-exclusion chromatography, and various scattering techniques (light, X-ray, and neutron). Some examples are also given to show how these data provide mechanistic insight into how biosynthetic processes control the structure and how the various structural levels control functional properties.

Viscosimetric detection in size-exclusion chromatography (SEC/GPC): The Goldwasser method and beyond

Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC or GPC) is the most widely used separation method to characterize polymers. The high level of complexity of most polymeric materials necessitates the use of not only concentration-sensitive detection but also structure-sensitive detection. Viscometry is usually used in conjunction with a concentration-sensitive detector and universal calibration to determine molecular weights of polymers. Goldwasser proposed to use a viscometer as a single detector to determine number-average molecular weights, M(n) (ACS Symposium Series, 521, 143). The method is particularly of interest when concentration-sensitive detection is not available, because the sample is isorefractive or not UV-absorbing, or because composition is not constant (copolymers). It has known very little applications so far. It actually does not only allow determining M(n), but also the number hydrodynamic volume distribution. This opens a wider range of applications for the Goldwasser method. Size-exclusion chromatography only yields inaccurate molecular weight distributions for some complex branched polymers. Hydrodynamic volume distributions have then a strong potential for comparative studies owing to their far higher accuracy. Our experimental tests highlight the fact that the method is highly sensitive to noise and careful optimization of the injection concentration is needed, but number distribution can be obtained as well as M(n).

Size-separation characterization of starch and glycogen for biosynthesis-structure-property relationships

Starch and glycogen are highly branched polymers of glucose of great importance to humans in managing and mitigating nutrition-related diseases, especially diabetes and obesity, and in industrial uses, for example in food and paper-making. Size-separation characterization using multiple-detection size-exclusion chromatography (SEC, also known as gel-permeation chromatography, GPC) is able to furnish substantial amounts of information on the relationships between the biosynthesis, processing, structure, and properties of these biopolymers, and achieves superior characterization for use in industrial product and process improvements. Multi-detector SEC is able to give much more information about structure than simple averages such as total molecular weight or size; the detailed information yielded by this technique has already given new information on important biosynthesis-structure-property reactions, and has considerable potential in this field in the future. However, it must be used with care to avoid artifacts arising from incomplete dissolution of the substrate and shear scission during separation. It is also essential in interpreting data to appreciate that this size-separation technique can only ever give size distributions, never true molecular weight distributions. Other size-separation techniques, particularly field-flow fractionation, require substantial technical development to be used on undegraded native starches.

Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) of branched polymers and polysaccharides

Branched polymers are among the most important polymers, ranging from polyolefins to polysaccharides. Branching plays a key role in the chain dynamics. It is thus very important for application properties such as mechanical and adhesive properties and digestibility. It also plays a key role in viscous properties, and thus in the mechanism of the separation of these polymers in size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Critically reviewing the literature, particularly on SEC of polyolefins, polyacrylates and starch, we discuss common pitfalls but also highlight some unexplored possibilities to characterize branched polymers. The presence of a few long-chain branches has been shown to lead to a poor separation in SEC, as evidenced by multiple-detection SEC or multidimensional liquid chromatography. The local dispersity can be large in that case, and the accuracy of molecular weight determination achieved by current methods is poor, although hydrodynamic volume distributions offer alternatives. In contrast, highly branched polymers do not suffer from this extensive incomplete separation in terms of molecular weight.

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