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Jiang C, Zhao C, Xu P, Song Q, Tao X, Lin S. Effects of Secondary Structures and pH on the Self-Assembly of Poly(ethylene glycol)- b-polytyrosine. Biomacromolecules 2024. [PMID: 38950188 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.4c00437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/03/2024]
Abstract
Different from conventional synthetic polymers, polypeptides exhibit a distinguishing characteristic of adopting specific secondary structures, including random coils, α-helixes, and β-sheets. The conformation determines the rigidity and solubility of polypeptide chains, which further direct the self-assembly and morphology of the nanostructures. We studied the effect of distinct secondary structures on the self-assembly behavior of polytyrosine (PTyr)-derived amphiphilic copolymers. Two block copolymers of enantiopure poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(l-tyrosine) (PEG-b-P(l-Tyr)) and racemic poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(dl-tyrosine) (PEG-b-P(dl-Tyr)) were synthesized through the ring-opening polymerization of l-tyrosine N-thiocarboxyanhydride (l-Tyr-NTA) and dl-tyrosine N-thiocarboxyanhydride (dl-Tyr-NTA), respectively, by using poly(ethylene glycol) amine as the initiator. PEG44-b-P(l-Tyr)10 adopts a β-sheet conformation and self-assembles into rectangular nanosheets in aqueous solutions, while PEG44-b-P(dl-Tyr)9 is primarily in a random coil conformation with a tiny content of β-sheet structures, which self-assembles into sheaf-like nanofibrils. A pH increase results in the ionization of phenolic hydroxyl groups, which decreases the β-sheet content and increases the random coil content of the PTyr segments. Accordingly, PEG44-b-P(l-Tyr)10 and PEG44-b-P(dl-Tyr)9 self-assemble to form slender nanobelts and twisted nanoribbons, respectively, in alkaline aqueous solutions. The secondary structure-driven self-assembly of PTyr-derived copolymers is promising to construct filamentous nanostructures, which have potential for applications in controlled drug release.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caixia Jiang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Chonghao Zhao
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Peng Xu
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Qipeng Song
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Xinfeng Tao
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Shaoliang Lin
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
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Kabil MF, Azzazy HMES, Nasr M. Recent progress on polySarcosine as an alternative to PEGylation: Synthesis and biomedical applications. Int J Pharm 2024; 653:123871. [PMID: 38301810 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2024.123871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Biotherapeutic PEGylation to prolong action of medications has gained popularity over the last decades. Various hydrophilic natural polymers have been developed to tackle the drawbacks of PEGylation, such as its accelerated blood clearance and non-biodegradability. Polypeptoides, such as polysarcosine (pSar), have been explored as hydrophilic substitutes for PEG. pSar has PEG-like physicochemical characteristics such as water solubility and no reported cytotoxicity and immunogenicity. This review discusses pSar derivatives, synthesis, characterization approaches, biomedical applications, in addition to the challenges and future perspectives of pSar based biomaterials as an alternative to PEG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed Fawzi Kabil
- Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, AUC Avenue, New Cairo 11835, Egypt
| | - Hassan Mohamed El-Said Azzazy
- Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, AUC Avenue, New Cairo 11835, Egypt
| | - Maha Nasr
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
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Zheng B, Bai T, Tao X, Ling J. An Inspection into Multifarious Ways to Synthesize Poly(Amino Acid)s. Macromol Rapid Commun 2021; 42:e2100453. [PMID: 34562289 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202100453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Poly(α-amino acid)s (PAAs) attract growing attention due to their essential role in the application as biomaterials. To synthesize PAAs with desired structures and properties, scientists have developed various synthetic techniques with respective advantages. Here, different approaches to preparing PAAs are inspected. Basic features and recent progresses of these methods are summarized, including polymerizations of amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs), amino acid N-thiocarboxyanhydrides (NTAs), and N-phenoxycarbonyl amino acids (NPCs), as well as other synthetic routes. NCA is the most classical monomer to prepare PAAs with high molecular weights (MWs). NTA polymerizations are promising alternative pathways to produce PAAs, which can tolerate nucleophiles including alcohols, mercaptans, carboxyl acids, and water. By various techniques including choosing appropriate solvents or using organic acids as promoters, NTAs polymerize to produce polypeptoids and polypeptides with narrow dispersities and designed MWs up to 55.0 and 57.0 kg mol-1 , respectively. NPC polymerizations are phosgene-free ways to synthesize polypeptides and polypeptoids. For the future prospects, detail investigations into polymerization mechanisms of NTA and NPC are expected. The synthesis of PAAs with designed topologies and assembly structures is another intriguing topic. The advantages and unsettled problems in various synthetic ways are discussed for readers to choose appropriate approaches for PAAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Botuo Zheng
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.,Fujian Key Laboratory of Polymer Science, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China
| | - Tianwen Bai
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China
| | - Xinfeng Tao
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China
| | - Jun Ling
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China
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Zhou P, Shen T, Ling J. Synthesis and properties of polypeptoid‐containing block copolymers: A review. JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/pol.20210507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Peng Zhou
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
| | - Ting Shen
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
| | - Jun Ling
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
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Zheng B, Xu S, Ni X, Ling J. Understanding Acid-Promoted Polymerization of the N-Substituted Glycine N-Thiocarboxyanhydride in Polar Solvents. Biomacromolecules 2021; 22:1579-1589. [PMID: 33784077 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.1c00016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Polymerization of N-substituted glycine N-thiocarboxyanhydrides (NNTAs) is a promising pathway to prepare functional polypeptoids benefiting from their tolerance to nucleophilic impurities. However, controlled NNTA polymerization is hard to achieve in amide polar solvents, including N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), and N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP), the only aprotic solvents for many biomacromolecules and polypeptoids. In the present work, we successfully achieve controlled NNTA polymerization in amide polar solvents by adding acetic acid as a promoter. The promotion is applied to the polymerization of sarcosine NTA, N-ethyl glycine NTA, and N-butyl glycine NTA. DMAc, DMF, and NMP are suitable solvents to prepare polypeptoids with designable molecular weights and low dispersities (1.06-1.21). The polysarcosines with high molecular weights are prepared up to 35.2 kg/mol. A kinetic investigation quantitatively reveals that the presence of acetic acid not only accelerates the polymerization, but also suppresses H2S-catalyzed decomposition of NNTAs by decreasing the concentration of H2S dissolved in polar solvents. Benzoic acid is also able to promote the polymerization, while trifluoroacetic acid, phosphoric acid, and phenol are not appropriate promoters. The moderate acidity of acids is essential. l-Methionine, l-tryptophan, and l-phenylalanine, which are dissolved in DMF, initiate the controlled polymerization of sarcosine-NTA in the presence of acetic acid and introduce functional end groups to polysarcosines quantitatively. In DMAc, hydrophilic vancomycin is grafted by poly(N-butyl glycine). The amphiphilic product dissolves in dichloromethane and stabilizes water-in-oil emulsion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Botuo Zheng
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Songyi Xu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Xufeng Ni
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Jun Ling
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
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Zhou P, Dai XG, Kong J, Ling J. Synthesis of Well-defined Poly(tetrahydrofuran)-b-Poly(a-amino acid)s via Cationic Ring-opening Polymerization (ROP) of Tetrahydrofuran and Nucleophilic ROP of N-thiocarboxyanhydrides. CHINESE JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10118-021-2539-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Yan Q, Dong X, Xie R, Xu X, Wang X, Zhang K, Xia J, Ling J, Zhou F, Sun J. Preparation of Mn2+@PolyDOPA-b-polysarcosine micelle as MRI contrast agent with high longitudinal relaxivity. JOURNAL OF MACROMOLECULAR SCIENCE PART A-PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/10601325.2020.1840918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Qingda Yan
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xue Dong
- Department of Radiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Rongze Xie
- Department of Radiology, Jiulongpo People’s Hospital, Chongqing, China
| | - Xiufang Xu
- Department of Medical Imagine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoyan Wang
- Department of Radiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Ke Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jingya Xia
- Department of Radiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jun Ling
- MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Fei Zhou
- Department of Radiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jihong Sun
- Department of Radiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Department of Radiology, Jiulongpo People’s Hospital, Chongqing, China
- Innovation Center for Minimally Invasive Techniques and Devices, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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Poly(2-oxazoline)s and polypeptoids. Eur Polym J 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2020.109696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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