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Dykeman-Bermingham PA, Bogen MP, Chittari SS, Grizzard SF, Knight AS. Tailoring Hierarchical Structure and Rare Earth Affinity of Compositionally Identical Polymers via Sequence Control. J Am Chem Soc 2024; 146:8607-8617. [PMID: 38470430 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c00440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Macromolecule sequence, structure, and function are inherently intertwined. While well-established relationships exist in proteins, they are more challenging to define for synthetic polymer nanoparticles due to their molecular weight, sequence, and conformational dispersities. To explore the impact of sequence on nanoparticle structure, we synthesized a set of 16 compositionally identical, sequence-controlled polymers with distinct monomer patterning of dimethyl acrylamide and a bioinspired, structure-driving di(phenylalanine) acrylamide (FF). Sequence control was achieved through multiblock polymerizations, yielding unique ensembles of polymer sequences which were simulated by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Systematic analysis of the global (tertiary- and quaternary-like) structure in this amphiphilic copolymer series revealed the effect of multiple sequence descriptors: the number of domains, the hydropathy of terminal domains, and the patchiness (density) of FF within a domain, each of which impacted both chain collapse and the distribution of single- and multichain assemblies. Furthermore, both the conformational freedom of chain segments and local-scale, β-sheet-like interactions were sensitive to the patchiness of FF. To connect sequence, structure, and target function, we evaluated an additional series of nine sequence-controlled copolymers as sequestrants for rare earth elements (REEs) by incorporating a functional acrylic acid monomer into select polymer scaffolds. We identified key sequence variables that influence the binding affinity, capacity, and selectivity of the polymers for REEs. Collectively, these results highlight the potential of and boundaries of sequence control via multiblock polymerizations to drive primary sequence ensembles hierarchical structures, and ultimately the functionality of compositionally identical polymeric materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter A Dykeman-Bermingham
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Matthew P Bogen
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Supraja S Chittari
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Savannah F Grizzard
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Abigail S Knight
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
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2
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Su GA, Wadsworth OJ, Muller HS, Archer WR, Hetts SW, Schulz MD. Polymer-nucleobase composites for chemotherapy drug capture. J Mater Chem B 2023; 11:8449-8455. [PMID: 37580990 DOI: 10.1039/d3tb00819c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/16/2023]
Abstract
Intravenous chemotherapy (e.g., doxorubicin (DOX)) is standard treatment for many cancers but also leads to side effects due to off-target toxicity. To address this challenge, devices for removing off-target chemotherapy agents from the bloodstream have been developed, but the efficacy of such devices relies on the ability of the underlying materials to specifically sequester small-molecule drugs. Anion-exchange materials, genomic DNA, and DNA-functionalized iron oxide particles have all been explored as drug-capture materials, but cost, specificity, batch-to-batch variation, and immunogenicity concerns persist as challenges. Here, we report a new class of fully synthetic drug-capture materials. We copolymerized methacrylic acid and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate in the presence of several nucleobases and derivatives (adenine, cytosine, xanthine, and thymine) to yield a crosslinked resin with nucleobases integrated into the material. These materials demonstrated effective DOX capture: up to 27 mg of DOX per g of material over 20 minutes from a phosphate-buffered saline solution with an initial concentration of 0.05 mg mL-1 of DOX. These materials use only the individual nucleobases for DOX capture and exhibit competitive capture efficacy compared to previous materials that used genomic DNA, making this approach more cost-effective and reducing potential immunological concerns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gillian A Su
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - Ophelia J Wadsworth
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - H Suzanne Muller
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - William R Archer
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - Steven W Hetts
- Departments of Radiology, Biomedical Imaging, and Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0628, USA
| | - Michael D Schulz
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
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3
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Vaissier Welborn V, Archer WR, Schulz MD. Characterizing Ion-Polymer Interactions in Aqueous Environment with Electric Fields. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 63:2030-2036. [PMID: 36533730 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Polymers make the basis of highly tunable materials that could be designed and optimized for metal recovery from aqueous environments. While experimental studies show that this approach has potential, it suffers from a limited knowledge of the detailed molecular interaction between polymers and target metal ions. Here, we propose to calculate intrinsic electric fields from polarizable force field molecular dynamics simulations to characterize the driving force behind Eu3+ motion in the presence of poly(ethylenimine methylenephosphonate), a specifically designed metal chelating polymer. Focusing on the metal chelation initiation step (i.e., before binding), we can rationalize the role of each molecule on ion dynamics by projecting these electric fields along the direction of ion motion. We find that the polymer functional groups act indirectly, and the polymer-metal ion interaction is actually mediated by water. This result is consistent with the experimental observation that metal sequestration by these polymers is entropically driven. This study suggests that electric field calculations can help the design of metal chelating polymers, for example, by seeking to optimize polymer-solvent interactions rather than polymer-ion interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerie Vaissier Welborn
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia24060, United States
| | - William R. Archer
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia24060, United States
| | - Michael D. Schulz
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia24060, United States
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4
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Coppola R, Lozano H, Contin M, Canneva A, Molinari FN, Abuin G, D'Accorso N. Polybenzimidazole membrane for efficient copper removal from aqueous solutions. POLYM INT 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/pi.6392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- R.E. Coppola
- Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial (INTI), Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - H.E. Lozano
- Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial (INTI), Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - M. Contin
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica Buenos Aires Argentina
| | | | - F. N. Molinari
- Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial (INTI), Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - G.C. Abuin
- Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial (INTI), Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - N.B. D'Accorso
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Orgánica Buenos Aires Argentina
- CONICET‐ Universidad de Buenos Aires, Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono (CIHIDECAR), Buenos Aires Argentina
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5
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Archer WR, Gallagher CMB, Vaissier Welborn V, Schulz MD. Exploring the role of polymer hydrophobicity in polymer-metal binding thermodynamics. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:3579-3585. [PMID: 35088772 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp05263b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Metal-chelating polymers play a key role in rare-earth element (REE) extraction and separation processes. Often, these processes occur in aqueous solution, but the interactions among water, polymer, and REE are largely under-investigated in these applications. To probe these interactions, we synthesized a series of poly(amino acid acrylamide)s with systematically varied hydrophobicity around a consistent chelating group (carboxylate). We then measured the ΔH of Eu3+ chelation as a function of temperature across the polymer series using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to give the change in heat capacity (ΔCP). We observed an order of magnitude variation in ΔCP (39-471 J mol1 K-1) with changes in the hydrophobicity of the polymer. Atomistic simulations of the polymer-metal-water interactions revealed greater Eu3+ and polymer desolvation when binding to the more hydrophobic polymers. These combined experimental and computational results demonstrate that metal binding in aqueous solution can be modulated not only by directly modifying the chelating groups, but also by altering the molecular environment around the chelating site, thus suggesting a new design principle for developing increasingly effective metal-chelating materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- William R Archer
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA.
| | - Connor M B Gallagher
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA.
| | - V Vaissier Welborn
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA.
| | - Michael D Schulz
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA.
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Archer WR, Dinges GE, MacNicol PL, Schulz MD. Synthesis of bottlebrush polymers based on poly( N-sulfonyl aziridine) macromonomers. Polym Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1039/d2py01125e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
We synthesized bottlebrush polymers with polyaziridine brushes and a polynorbornene backbone by a grafting-through approach. The polyaziridine macromonomer aggregates in solution, but these aggregates disperse over the course of the polymerization.
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Affiliation(s)
- William R. Archer
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Grace E. Dinges
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Piper L. MacNicol
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Michael D. Schulz
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
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Kheraldine H, Rachid O, Habib AM, Al Moustafa AE, Benter IF, Akhtar S. Emerging innate biological properties of nano-drug delivery systems: A focus on PAMAM dendrimers and their clinical potential. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2021; 178:113908. [PMID: 34390777 DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2021.113908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Revised: 07/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Drug delivery systems or vectors are usually needed to improve the bioavailability and effectiveness of a drug through improving its pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics at an organ, tissue or cellular level. However, emerging technologies with sensitive readouts as well as a greater understanding of physiological/biological systems have revealed that polymeric drug delivery systems are not biologically inert but can have innate or intrinsic biological actions. In this article, we review the emerging multiple innate biological/toxicological properties of naked polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer delivery systems in the absence of any drug cargo and discuss their correlation with the defined physicochemical properties of PAMAMs in terms of molecular size (generation), architecture, surface charge and chemistry. Further, we assess whether any of the reported intrinsic biological actions of PAMAMs such as their antimicrobial activity or their ability to sequester glucose and modulate key protein interactions or cell signaling pathways, can be exploited clinically such as in the treatment of diabetes and its complications.
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Archer WR, Thompson TN, Schulz MD. Effect of Copolymer Structure on Rare-Earth-Element Chelation Thermodynamics. Macromol Rapid Commun 2020; 42:e2000614. [PMID: 33368747 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202000614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2020] [Revised: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Rare-earth elements (REEs) are crucial to modern technology, leading to a high demand for materials capable of REE extraction and purification. Metal-chelating polymers (e.g., polycarboxylic acids, polyamines, and others) are particularly useful in these applications due to their synthetic accessibility and high selectivity. Copolymers with varied mole fractions of acrylic acid and methyl acrylate are synthesized and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to measure the thermodynamics of REE binding for each material is used. Across a series of copolymer compositions, entropically driven binding thermodynamics (∆G, ∆H, and ∆S) that appear to be independent of χAcrylic Acid are found. ITC stoichiometry data reveal that each copolymer requires between four and five repeat units to bind each REE. These data suggest that alterations in the copolymer structure do not affect the overall binding thermodynamics of REEs to these copolymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- William R Archer
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Tiffany N Thompson
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Michael D Schulz
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
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Archer WR, Schulz MD. Isothermal titration calorimetry: practical approaches and current applications in soft matter. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:8760-8774. [PMID: 32945316 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm01345e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) elucidates the thermodynamic profile (ΔH, ΔS, ΔG, Ka, and stoichiometry) of binding and dissociation reactions in solution. While ITC has primarily been used to investigate the thermodynamics of interactions between biological macromolecules and small molecules, it has become increasingly common for measuring binding interactions between synthetic polymers and small molecules, ions, or nanoparticles. This tutorial review describes applications of ITC in studying synthetic macromolecules and provides experimental guidelines for performing ITC experiments. We also highlight specific examples of using ITC to study soft matter, then discuss the limitations and the future of ITC in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- William R Archer
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - Michael D Schulz
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
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10
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Piechowicz M, Chiarizia R, Skanthakumar S, Rowan SJ, Soderholm L. Leveraging Actinide Hydrolysis Chemistry for Targeted Th and U Separations using Amidoxime‐Functionalized Poly(HIPE)s. Chemphyschem 2020; 21:1157-1165. [DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202000155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Revised: 03/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marek Piechowicz
- Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division Argonne National Laboratory Argonne IL 60439 USA
- Department of Chemistry University of Chicago 5640 S Ellis Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60637 USA
| | - Renato Chiarizia
- Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division Argonne National Laboratory Argonne IL 60439 USA
| | - S. Skanthakumar
- Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division Argonne National Laboratory Argonne IL 60439 USA
| | - Stuart J. Rowan
- Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division Argonne National Laboratory Argonne IL 60439 USA
- Department of Chemistry University of Chicago 5640 S Ellis Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60637 USA
- Pritzker School for Molecular Engineering University of Chicago 5640 S. Ellis Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60637 USA
| | - L. Soderholm
- Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division Argonne National Laboratory Argonne IL 60439 USA
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Archer WR, Fiorito A, Heinz-Kunert SL, MacNicol PL, Winn SA, Schulz MD. Synthesis and Rare-Earth-Element Chelation Properties of Linear Poly(ethylenimine methylenephosphonate). Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b02472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- William R. Archer
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Agustin Fiorito
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Sherrie L. Heinz-Kunert
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Piper L. MacNicol
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Samantha A. Winn
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Michael D. Schulz
- Department of Chemistry, Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
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12
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Long T. Polymers in the press: catalyzing a reaction. POLYM INT 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/pi.5951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tim Long
- Polymer InternationalVirginia Tech Blacksburg VI USA
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13
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Affiliation(s)
- John B Matson
- Virginia Tech Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Blacksburg Virginia USA
| | - Matthew B Baker
- Maastricht University MERLN Institute for Technology‐Inspired Regenerative Medicine Maastricht The Netherlands
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