Hierarchy of Complex Glycomacromolecules: From Controlled Topologies to Biomedical Applications

Carbohydrates bearing a distinct complexity use a special code (Glycocode) to communicate with carbohydrate-binding proteins at a high precision to manipulate biological activities in complex biological environments. The level of complexity in carbohydrate-containing macromolecules controls the amount and specificity of information that can be stored in biomacromolecules. Therefore, a better understanding of the glycocode is crucial to open new areas of biomedical applications by controlling or manipulating the interaction between immune cells and pathogens in terms of trafficking and signaling, which would become a powerful tool to prevent infectious diseases. Even though a certain level of progress has been achieved over the past decade, synthetic glycomacromolecules are still lagging far behind naturally existing glycans in terms of complexity and precision because of insufficient and inefficient synthetic techniques. Currently, specific targeting at a cellular level using synthetic glycomacromolecules is still challenging. It is obvious that multidisciplinary collaborations are essential between different specialized disciplines to enhance the carbohydrate receptor-targeting paradigm for new biomedical applications. In this Perspective, recent developments in the synthesis of sophisticated glycomacromolecules are highlighted, and their biological and biomedical applications are also discussed in detail.

Tailor-made Glycopolymers via Reversible Deactivation Radical Polymerization: Design, Properties and Applications

Investigating the underlying mechanism of biological interactions using glycopolymer is becoming increasingly important owing to their unique recognition properties. The multivalent interactions between lectin and glycopolymer are significantly influenced by...

Synthesis and Aggregation Behavior of Temperature- and pH-Responsive Glycopolymers as Sugar-Displaying Conjugates

Stimuli-responsive polymers have attracted significant interest in the fields of advanced materials and biomaterials. Herein, temperature- and pH-responsive glycopolymers, which are composed of N-isopropylacrylamide, methacrylic acid, and an acrylamide derivative bearing a lactose moiety, were synthesized via radical copolymerization. The series of resulting glycopolymers had different degrees of substitution of the lactose moieties, were responsive to temperatures between 26.6 °C and 47.6 °C, and formed aggregates above the lower critical solution temperature limit in mild acidic aqueous media (pH 4-6). The temperature-responsive behavior was dependent on the prevailing pH conditions, as no aggregation was observed in neutral and basic aqueous media (pH > 7). The aggregates had saccharide moieties on the surface in aqueous media. The number of saccharide moieties on the surface depended on the saccharide-containing unit ratio in the glycopolymer. The ratio was determined via enzymatic hydrolysis of the lactose moieties using β-galactosidase and the subsequent detection of the released galactose.

Smart Materials for Biomedical Applications: The Usefulness of Shape-Memory Polymers

This review describes available smart biomaterials for biomedical applications. Biomaterials have gained special attention because of their characteristics, along with biocompatibility, biodegradability, renewability, and inexpensiveness. In addition, they are also sensitive towards various stimuli such as temperature, light, magnetic, electro, pH and can respond to two or more stimuli at the same time. In this manuscript, the suitability of stimuli-responsive smart polymers was examined, providing examples of its usefulness in the biomedical applications.

A new visible light and temperature responsive diblock copolymer

A visible light and temperature responsive diblock copolymer of poly[6-(2,6,2′,6′-tetramethoxy-4′-oxyazobenzene) hexyl methacrylate]-block-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PmAzo-b-PNIPAM) was synthesized via RAFT polymerization by carefully tuning the polymerization conditions.

Controllable fabrication of novel pH-, thermo-, and light-responsive supramolecular dendronized copolymers with dual self-assembly behavior

Novel tri-stimulus responsive supramolecular dendronized copolymers with dual self-assembly behavior are prepared, exhibiting fast and fully reversible phase transitions and trans–cis isomerization.

Triple-stimuli responsive polymers with fine tuneable magnetic responses

The formation of multi-stimuli responsive polymers exhibiting magnetic, pH and light sensitivity is reported.

Field responsive materials: photo-, electro-, magnetic- and ultrasound-sensitive polymers

Recent advances in field-responsive polymers, which have emerged as highly promising materials for numerous applications, are highlighted.

Glycopolymer-based nanoparticles: synthesis and application

This review focuses on the different approaches to synthesizing glycopolymer-based nanoparticles and their various applications.