Temperature-dependent molecular-recognizable membranes based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and β-cyclodextrin

Thermo-responsive adsorption and separation of amino acid enantiomers using smart polymer-brush-modified magnetic nanoparticles

A novel type of multifunctional magnetic nanoparticle with highly chiral recognition capability, excellent thermo-sensitive adsorption and decomplexation properties toward amino acid enantiomers, and recyclability was developed in this study.

Smart surfaces based on thermo-responsive polymer brushes prepared from L-alanine derivatives for cell capture and release

Two novel thermo-responsive polymer brushes were prepared from L-alanine derivatives using the surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) technique. The temperature-induced cell capture and release on both polymer brush modified substrates were further explored.

Fabrication of rapidly-responsive switches based on the coupling effect of polyacrylamide and poly(acrylic acid) without IPN structures

Novel coupling membrane systems with thermoresponsive switches composed of two different polymers PAAM and PAAC have been successfully developed. The membranes show significant positive switch characteristics and higher thermoresponsive speeds.

Temperature-switched controlled release nanosystems based on molecular recognition and polymer phase transition

Novel temperature-switched controlled release nanosystems based on molecular recognition of β-CD and thermosensitivity of PNIPAM phase transition of is developed.

Plasma nanostructuring of porous polymer membranes

Several methods for membrane modification have been presented. Chemical modification of a neat polymer followed by membrane formation and modification of just formed membranes have been compared to plasma action. The following plasma modes are discussed in detail: treatment with non-polymerizable gases, treatment with vapors and plasma initiated grafting. Some examples of modified membrane properties are given. Finally, it was concluded that plasma treatment offers the fastest, environment friendly and versatile method that allows tailoring brand new membranes.

Core-shell nanosized assemblies mediated by the alpha-beta cyclodextrin dimer with a tumor-triggered targeting property

In this paper, the alpha-beta cyclodextrin dimer is designed via "click" chemistry to connect the hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments to form self-assembled noncovalently connected micelles (NCCMs) through host-guest interactions. A peptide containing the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence was introduced to NCCMs as a target ligand to improve the cell uptake efficacy, while PEGylated technology was employed via benzoic-imine bonds to protect the ligands in normal tissues and body fluid. In addition, two fluorescent dyes were conjugated to different segments to track the formation of the micelles as well as the assemblies. It was found that the targeting property of NCCMs was switched off before reaching the tumor sites and switched on after removing the poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) segment in the tumor sites, which was called "tumor-triggered targeting". With deshielding of the PEG segment, the drugs loaded in NCCMs could be released rapidly due to the thermoinduced phase transition. The new concept of "tumor-triggered targeting" proposed here has great potential for cancer treatment.