Surface hydrophilic modification with well-defined glycopolymer for protein imprinting matrix

Combining Pickering Emulsion Polymerization with Molecular Imprinting to Prepare Polymer Microspheres for Selective Solid-Phase Extraction of Malachite Green

Malachite green (MG) is currently posing a carcinogenic threat to the safety of human lives; therefore, it is highly desirable to develop an effective method for fast trace detection of MG. Herein, for the first time, this paper presents a systematic study on polymer microspheres, being prepared by combined Pickering emulsion polymerization and molecular imprinting, to detect and purify MG. The microspheres, molecularly imprinted with MG, show enhanced adsorption selectivity to MG, despite a somewhat lowered adsorption capacity, as compared to the counterpart without molecular imprinting. Structural features and adsorption performance of these microspheres are elucidated by different characterizations and kinetic and thermodynamic analyses. The surface of the molecularly imprinted polymer microspheres (M-PMs) exhibits regular pores of uniform pore size distribution, endowing M-PMs with impressive adsorption selectivity to MG. In contrast, the microspheres without molecular imprinting show a larger average particle diameter and an uneven porous surface (with roughness and a large pore size), causing a lower adsorption selectivity to MG despite a higher adsorption capacity. Various adsorption conditions are investigated, such as pH and initial concentration of the solution with MG, for optimizing the adsorption performance of M-PMs in selectively tackling MG. The adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics are deeply discussed and analyzed, so as to provide a full picture of the adsorption behaviors of the polymer microspheres with and without the molecular imprinting. Significantly, M-PMs show promising solid-phase extraction column applications for recovering MG in a continuous extraction manner.

Anticancer Drug Disulfiram for In Situ RAFT Polymerization: Controlled Polymerization, Multifacet Self-Assembly, and Efficient Drug Delivery

Here we report the synthesis of a well-defined amphiphilic conjugate, tetraethylthiuram disulfide (disulfiram, DS)-poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate (DS-PEGMEA), and its multifacet self-assembly in aqueous solutions and application in DS drug delivery to melanoma cells. The DS-PEGMEA was synthesized via the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization utilizing DS, a 90 year old anticancer drug, as a precursor to generate RAFT agent in situ. Results demonstrate that the in situ formed RAFT can effectively control the polymerization of PEGMEA. Depending on the concentration in aqueous solution, the amphiphilic DS-PEGMEA conjugate can self-assemble to form layered, toroidal, hairy, or spherical nanostructures, respectively. Moreover, DS drug can be further encapsulated by DS-PEGMEA to formulate core-shell structured DS/DS-PEGMEA nanoparticles mediating the apoptosis of melanoma cells (A375) while inducing minimal cytotoxicity to normal (hADSC and NIH fibroblast) cells. Both DS and PEGMEA are approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA); therefore, the DS-PEGMEA has great potential for application in clinical drug delivery to melanoma.

PLL/PAE/DNA ternary complexes with enhanced endosomal escape ability for efficient and safe gene transfection

High gene transfection efficiency is achieved by a simple yet versatile PAE oligomer incorporation strategy.

Recent Advances in Macromolecularly Imprinted Polymers by Controlled Radical Polymerization Techniques

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are synthetic receptors with tailor-made recognition sites for the target molecules. Their high molecular recognition ability, good stability, easy preparation, and low cost make them highly promising substitutes for biological receptors. Recent years have witnessed rapidly increasing interest in the imprinting of biomacromolecules and especially proteins because of the great potential of these MIPs in such applications as proteome analysis, clinical diagnostics, and biomedicine. So far, some useful strategies have been developed for the imprinting of proteins and controlled radical polymerization techniques have proven highly versatile for such purpose. This mini-review describes recent developments in the controlled preparation of proteins-imprinted polymers via such advanced polymerization techniques.

Molecular imprinting science and technology: a survey of the literature for the years 2004-2011

Herein, we present a survey of the literature covering the development of molecular imprinting science and technology over the years 2004-2011. In total, 3779 references to the original papers, reviews, edited volumes and monographs from this period are included, along with recently identified uncited materials from prior to 2004, which were omitted in the first instalment of this series covering the years 1930-2003. In the presentation of the assembled references, a section presenting reviews and monographs covering the area is followed by sections describing fundamental aspects of molecular imprinting including the development of novel polymer formats. Thereafter, literature describing efforts to apply these polymeric materials to a range of application areas is presented. Current trends and areas of rapid development are discussed.

Construction of a novel macroporous imprinted biosensor based on quartz crystal microbalance for ribonuclease A detection

A novel quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) biosensor with high selectivity and sensitivity has been developed for ribonuclease A determination. Macroporous protein imprinted films have been fabricated on the surface of QCM electrode using 2,2,3,4,4,4-hexafluorobutyl methacrylate (HFBMA) as the main matrix monomer, N-methacryloyl-histidine (MAH) as the functional monomer, and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) as the cross-linker. The imprinted special surface area and the quantity of the imprinted sites were increased by the formation of macropores that were generated by employing calcium carbonate nanoparticles as the porogen. The selectivity factor was improved obviously for the fluoromonomer containing system, especially in dilute protein solution, which gets benefit from the reducing of the nonspecific adsorption of proteins. Furthermore, MAH can not only play the role as the functional monomer, but also improve the hydrophilicity of surface of the imprinted film, which makes for the adsorption of proteins. At last, the rigid skeleton structure made the films durable in the recycled tests.