Macromolecular crowding-assisted fabrication of liquid-crystalline imprinted polymers

Applications of Molecular Imprinting Technology in the Study of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the most internationally competitive industries. In the context of TCM modernization and internationalization, TCM-related research studies have entered a fast track of development. At the same time, research of TCM is also faced with challenges, such as matrix complexity, component diversity and low level of active components. As an interdisciplinary technology, molecular imprinting technology (MIT) has gained popularity in TCM study, owing to the produced molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) possessing the unique features of structure predictability, recognition specificity and application universality, as well as physical robustness, thermal stability, low cost and easy preparation. Herein, we comprehensively review the recent advances of MIT for TCM studies since 2017, focusing on two main aspects including extraction/separation and purification and detection of active components, and identification analysis of hazardous components. The fundamentals of MIT are briefly outlined and emerging preparation techniques for MIPs applied in TCM are highlighted, such as surface imprinting, nanoimprinting and multitemplate and multifunctional monomer imprinting. Then, applications of MIPs in common active components research including flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides and polyphenols, etc. are respectively summarized, followed by screening and enantioseparation. Related identification detection of hazardous components from TCM itself, illegal addition, or pollution residues (e.g., heavy metals, pesticides) are discussed. Moreover, the applications of MIT in new formulation of TCM, chiral drug resolution and detection of growing environment are summarized. Finally, we propose some issues still to be solved and future research directions to be expected of MIT for TCM studies.

[Preparation of liquid crystal-based molecularly imprinted monolith and its molecular recognition thermodynamics]

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) incorporated with liquid crystalline monomers can imprint and recognize templates at a very low level of crosslinking, thus addressing challenges associated with conventional MIPs, such as the embedding of the imprinted sites, low binding capacity, and slow mass transfer due to the high degree of crosslinking. Compared with traditional MIPs, the prepared MIPs have a greater number of easily binding sites, which can effectively overcome the embedding and low utilization of imprinting sites. Simultaneously, with a decrease in the level of chemical crosslinking, the mass transfer of template molecules can be significantly improved. However, the imprinting effect of liquid crystalline MIPs is generally weaker than that of traditional MIPs due to the low degree of crosslinking. Therefore, to obtain liquid crystalline MIPs with a good imprinting effect, a series of low-crosslinked liquid crystalline molecularly imprinted monoliths were prepared by graft polymerization and evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to systematically determine the relation between the polymerization parameters and the affinity of the resulting liquid crystalline MIPs. In this experiment, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) was used to synthesize a monolithic column skeleton with toluene and dodecyl alcohol as porogens. (S)-Naproxen was used as a template and liquid crystalline monomer 4-(4-cyanophenyl)-cyclohexyl ethylene (CPCE) was added for grafting to synthesize the liquid crystalline MIP monolith. The influence of the acetonitrile content and pH in the mobile phase on the chromatographic retention of the template molecule was investigated. The results showed that the main force of MIP recognizing naproxen changed from hydrogen bonding to hydrophobic interaction by the addition of the liquid crystalline monomer. Frontal analysis and adsorption isotherm fitting, including Langmuir, Freundlich, and Scatchard fitting, showed that when the crosslinking degree was 15%, the liquid crystalline MIPs exhibited the highest imprinting factor and heterogeneity, and the specific adsorption was stronger than non-specific adsorption. By analyzing the stoichiometric displacement model, the total affinity of the MIP monoliths for the template molecules (ln A) was determined to be 0.645, significantly higher than that of its analogues, indicating that the liquid crystalline imprinted monolith had a higher total affinity for the template molecule. The spatial matching degree (nβ) of the template molecule to the cavity structures of MIPs was also very high, and only inferior to that of ketoprofen. Nevertheless, the ln A value of ketoprofen was only 0.242, which indicated that the spatial effect was not the key factor in determining the recognition ability of liquid crystalline imprinting systems. An analysis of the separation thermodynamics revealed that the separation of the liquid crystalline MIPs was an entropy-controlled process, while that of conventional liquid crystalline-free MIPs was an enthalpy-controlled process. Based on the above results, the addition of a liquid crystalline monomer may alter the recognition mechanism of MIPs, and an appropriately low crosslinking degree can significantly improve the recognition performance of liquid crystalline MIPs, paving the way for a new generation of MIPs.

Preparation, characterization, and application of soluble liquid crystalline molecularly imprinted polymer in electrochemical sensor

A novel soluble molecularly imprinted polymer (SMIP) without chemical cross-linker was successfully synthesized. The quinine (QN), which the structure was similar to the template, was chosen as the immobile template to improve the affinity of MIP. 4-Methyl phenyl dicyclohexyl ethylene (MPDE) was used as the liquid crystal (LC) monomer to increase the rigid of the composite. The cooperative effect of QN and MPDE was demonstrated by comparing with the conventional MIP, which synthesized without QN and MPDE. The polymerization conditions of SMIP including the ratio of MAA to MPDE, template to functional monomer, and HQN to QN were also optimized. Moreover, the characterizations of the SMIP were investigated by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and nitrogen adsorption. In binding behavior, the SMIP presented the maximum adsorption capacity (0.37 ± 0.06 mmol/g) and imprinting factor (3.44 ± 0.25). And above all, the obtained polymer exhibited the solubility in the organic solution. In addition, the proposed SMIP as the electrochemical sensor exhibited a significant conductivity and sensitivity with the detection limit of 0.33 μM for HQN, the recoveries for the sample analysis varied from 97.4 to 100.8%, and the intra-day precision and inter-day precision were within 5.5% and 12.5%, respectively. It turned out that the SMIP had demonstrated more excellent potential than the traditional insoluble MIP in the development of the membrane-based electrochemical sensors.Graphical abstract.

An insight into chiral monolithic stationary phases for enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatography applications

In this review, three main classes of chiral monolithic stationary phases, namely silica-, organic polymer-, and hybrid-based monolithic stationary phases, are covered. Their preparations, applications, and advantages compared with the conventional-packed and open-tubular capillary columns are discussed. A detailed description of the different types and techniques used for the introduction of chiral selectors into the monolithic matrices such as immobilization, functionalization, coating, encapsulation, and bonding. Special emphasis is given to the recent developments of chiral selectors in HPLC monolithic stationary phases during the past 18 years.

Floating molecularly imprinted polymers based on liquid crystalline and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes for capecitabine sustained release

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have drawn extensive attention as carriers on drug delivery. However, most of MIPs suffer from insufficient drug loading capacity, burst release of drugs and/or low bioavailability. To solve the issues, this study designed an imprinted material with superior floating nature for oral drug delivery system of capecitabine (CAP) rationally. The MIPs was synthesized in the presence of 4-methylphenyl dicyclohexyl ethylene (liquid crystalline, LC) and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) via polymerization reaction. The LC-POSS MIPs had extended release of the template molecules over 13.4 h with entrapment efficiency of 20.53%, diffusion coefficient of 2.83 × 10^-11 cm² s^-1, and diffusion exponent of 0.84. Pharmacokinetic studies further revealed the prolong release and high relative bioavailability of CAP in vivo of rats, showing the effective floating effect of the LC-POSS MIPs. The in vivo images revealed visually that the gastroretentive time of the LC-POSS MIPs was longer than non-LC-POSS imprinted polymers. The physical characteristics of the polymers were also characterized by nitrogen adsorption experiment, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry analysis. As a conclusion, the LC-POSS MIPs can be used as an eligible CAP carrier and might hold great potential in clinical applications for sustained release drug.

Macromolecular crowding for materials-directed controlled self-assembly

Macromolecular crowding refers to intracellular environments where various macromolecules, including proteins and nucleic acids, are present at high total concentrations. Its influence on biological processes has been investigated using a highly concentrated in vitro solution of water-soluble polymers as a model. Studies have revealed significant effects of macromolecular crowding on the thermodynamic equilibria and dynamics of biomolecular self-assembly in vivo. Recently, macromolecular crowding has attracted materials scientists, especially those in bio-related areas, as a tool to control molecular/colloidal self-assembly. Macromolecular crowding has been exploited to control the structure of supramolecular materials, assemble nanomaterials, and improve the performance of polymeric materials. Furthermore, nanostructured materials have been shown to be an interesting alternative to water-soluble polymers for creating crowded environments for controlled self-assembly. In this review article, we summarize recent progress in research on macromolecular crowding for controlled self-assembly in bio-related materials chemistry.

Floating liquid crystalline molecularly imprinted polymer coated carbon nanotubes for levofloxacin delivery

Liquid crystalline molecularly imprinted polymers (LC-MIPs) were low cross-linking MIPs (5-20 mol%) by introducing a LC monomer into the MIP polymerization system to keep the shape of the imprinted cavities due to additional interactions between the mesogenic groups. The multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) coated LC-MIP (MWCNT@LC-MIP) was the first fabricated as a novel floating interaction-controlled DDS. The synthesis was achieved by adding 9-vinylanthracene to obtain the high-density vinyl group functionalized MWCNTs firstly, and then polymerization of LC MIPs was performed on the surface of MWCNTs using a mixture of methacrylic acid, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, and 4-methyl phenyl dicyclohexyl ethylene (LC monomer) with levofloxacin (LVF) as model template drug. Both template/functional monomer ratio and levels of crosslinker were optimized to obtain the best imprinting factor. Characterizations of polymer were investigated by the transmission electron microscope, nitrogen adsorption, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectra and floating behavior studies. The imprinting effect was confirmed by the adsorption isotherms, adsorption kinetics and effect of selectivity. In vitro release studies were examined by the LVF-loaded MWCNT@LC-MIP and the control samples, MWCNT@LC-NIP, MWCNT@MIP, MWCNT@NIP and the bare MWCNT using acetonitrile as the dissolute medium. The release profiles showed an obvious zero-order release of LVF from MWCNT@LC-MIP, which exhibited 3.8 μg/h of the release rate with duration of about 20 h. In vivo pharmacokinetic study displayed the relative bioavailability of the gastro-floating MWCNT@LC-MIP was 578.9%, whereas only 58.0% of MWCNT@MIP and 11.7% of the bared MWCNT. As a conclusion, MWCNT@LC-MIP showed potentials for oral administration by the innovative combination of floating and controlled release properties.

Making microenvironments: A look into incorporating macromolecular crowding into in vitro experiments, to generate biomimetic microenvironments which are capable of directing cell function for tissue engineering applications

Biomimetic microenvironments are key components to successful cell culture and tissue engineering in vitro. One of the most accurate biomimetic microenvironments is that made by the cells themselves. Cell-made microenvironments are most similar to the in vivo state as they are cell-specific and produced by the actual cells which reside in that specific microenvironment. However, cell-made microenvironments have been challenging to re-create in vitro due to the lack of extracellular matrix composition, volume and complexity which are required. By applying macromolecular crowding to current cell culture protocols, cell-made microenvironments, or cell-derived matrices, can be generated at significant rates in vitro. In this review, we will examine the causes and effects of macromolecular crowding and how it has been applied in several in vitro systems including tissue engineering.

Side chain liquid crystalline polymers with an optically active polynorbornene backbone and achiral mesogenic side groups

This work describes a series of side-on and end-on SCLCPs with an optically active polynorbornene main chain and achiral mesogens. The side-on SCLCPs tend to form achiral mesophases, while their comparative end-on analogues exhibit chiral mesophases.