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Pascouau C, Schweitzer M, Besenius P. Supramolecular Assembly and Thermogelation Strategies Using Peptide-Polymer Conjugates. Biomacromolecules 2024; 25:2659-2678. [PMID: 38663862 PMCID: PMC11095398 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.4c00031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2024] [Revised: 04/04/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
Peptide-polymer conjugates (PPCs) are of particular interest in the development of responsive, adaptive, and interactive materials due to the benefits offered by combining both building blocks and components. This review presents pioneering work as well as recent advances in the design of peptide-polymer conjugates, with a specific focus on their thermoresponsive behavior. This unique class of materials has shown great promise in the development of supramolecular structures with physicochemical properties that are modulated using soft and biorthogonal external stimuli. The temperature-induced self-assembly of PPCs into various supramolecular architectures, gelation processes, and tuning of accessible processing parameters to biologically relevant temperature windows are described. The discussion covers the chemical design of the conjugates, the supramolecular driving forces involved, and the mutual influence of the polymer and peptide segments. Additionally, some selected examples for potential biomedical applications of thermoresponsive PPCs in tissue engineering, delivery systems, tumor therapy, and biosensing are highlighted, as well as perspectives on future challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloé Pascouau
- Department of Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Duesbergweg 1014, D-55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Maren Schweitzer
- Department of Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Duesbergweg 1014, D-55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Pol Besenius
- Department of Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Duesbergweg 1014, D-55128 Mainz, Germany
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Hong Y, Najafi S, Casey T, Shea JE, Han SI, Hwang DS. Hydrophobicity of arginine leads to reentrant liquid-liquid phase separation behaviors of arginine-rich proteins. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7326. [PMID: 36443315 PMCID: PMC9705477 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35001-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered proteins rich in cationic amino acid groups can undergo Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation (LLPS) in the presence of charge-balancing anionic counterparts. Arginine and Lysine are the two most prevalent cationic amino acids in proteins that undergo LLPS, with arginine-rich proteins observed to undergo LLPS more readily than lysine-rich proteins, a feature commonly attributed to arginine's ability to form stronger cation-π interactions with aromatic groups. Here, we show that arginine's ability to promote LLPS is independent of the presence of aromatic partners, and that arginine-rich peptides, but not lysine-rich peptides, display re-entrant phase behavior at high salt concentrations. We further demonstrate that the hydrophobicity of arginine is the determining factor giving rise to the reentrant phase behavior and tunable viscoelastic properties of the dense LLPS phase. Controlling arginine-induced reentrant LLPS behavior using temperature and salt concentration opens avenues for the bioengineering of stress-triggered biological phenomena and drug delivery systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuri Hong
- School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, Republic of Korea
- Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Saeed Najafi
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Thomas Casey
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Joan-Emma Shea
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
| | - Song-I Han
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
| | - Dong Soo Hwang
- School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, Republic of Korea.
- Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, 37673, Republic of Korea.
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Kim S, Kim JM, Wood K, Choi SH. Ionic group-dependent structure of complex coacervate hydrogels formed by ABA triblock copolymers. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:4146-4155. [PMID: 35583260 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm00255h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
This study investigates the nanostructure of complex coacervate core hydrogels (C3Gs) with varying compositions of cationic charged groups (i.e., ammonium and guanidinium) using small-angle X-ray/neutron scattering (SAX/NS). C3Gs were prepared by stoichiometric mixing of two oppositely charged ABA triblock copolymers in aqueous solvents, in which A end-blocks were functionalized with either sulfonate groups or a mixture of ammonium and guanidinium groups. Comprehensive small-angle X-ray/neutron scattering (SAX/NS) analysis elucidated the dependence of C3Gs structures on the fraction of guanidinium groups in the cationic end-block (x) and salt concentration (cs). As x increases, the polymer volume fraction in the cores, and interfacial tension (γcore) and salt resistance (c*) of the coacervate cores increase, which is attributed to the greater hydrophobicity and non-electrostatic association. Furthermore, we observed that the salt dependence of the interfacial tension follows γcore ∼ (1 - cs/c*)3/2 in all series of x. The results show that the variation of the ionic group provides a powerful method to control the salt-responsiveness of C3Gs as stimuli-responsive materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyoung Kim
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Hongik University, Seoul 04066, Republic of Korea.
| | - Jung-Min Kim
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Hongik University, Seoul 04066, Republic of Korea.
| | - Kathleen Wood
- Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia
| | - Soo-Hyung Choi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Hongik University, Seoul 04066, Republic of Korea.
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Long W, Kim JC. Poly (ethylenimine)/(phenylthio) acetic acid ion pair self-assembly incorporating indocyanine green and its NIR–responsive release property. JOURNAL OF POLYMER RESEARCH 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10965-021-02800-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Neitzel A, Fang YN, Yu B, Rumyantsev AM, de Pablo JJ, Tirrell MV. Polyelectrolyte Complex Coacervation across a Broad Range of Charge Densities. Macromolecules 2021; 54:6878-6890. [PMID: 34334816 PMCID: PMC8320234 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Revised: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Polyelectrolyte complex coacervates of homologous (co)polyelectrolytes with a near-ideally random distribution of a charged and neutral ethylene oxide comonomer were synthesized. The unique platform provided by these building blocks enabled an investigation of the phase behavior across charge fractions 0.10 ≤ f ≤ 1.0. Experimental phase diagrams for f = 0.30-1.0 were obtained from thermogravimetric analysis of complex and supernatant phases and contrasted with molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical scaling laws. At intermediate to high f, a dependence of polymer weight fraction in the salt-free coacervate phase (w P,c) of w P,c ∼ f 0.37±0.01 was extracted; this trend was in good agreement with accompanying simulation predictions. Below f = 0.50, w P,c was found to decrease more dramatically, qualitatively in line with theory and simulations predicting an exponent of 2/3 at f ≤ 0.25. Preferential salt partitioning to either coacervate or supernatant was found to be dictated by the chemistry of the constituent (co)polyelectrolytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelika
E. Neitzel
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, University
of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- Argonne
National Laboratory, Materials Science Division, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Yan N. Fang
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, University
of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Boyuan Yu
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, University
of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Artem M. Rumyantsev
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, University
of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, University
of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- Argonne
National Laboratory, Materials Science Division, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Matthew V. Tirrell
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, University
of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- Argonne
National Laboratory, Materials Science Division, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
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Kim S, Lee M, Lee WB, Choi SH. Ionic-Group Dependence of Polyelectrolyte Coacervate Phase Behavior. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sojeong Kim
- School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Minhwan Lee
- School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Won Bo Lee
- School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Soo-Hyung Choi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Hongik University, Seoul 04066, Republic of Korea
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