Multiple-Responsive Dendronized Hyperbranched Polymers

Shear-thinning hydrogel for allograft cell transplantation and externally controlled transgene expression

This work establishes the design of a fully synthetic, shear-thinning hydrogel platform that is injectable and can isolate engineered, allogeneic cell therapies from the host. We utilized RAFT to generate a library of linear random copolymers of N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA) and 2-vinyl-4,4-dimethyl azlactone (VDMA) with variable mol% VDMA and degree of polymerization. Poly(DMA-co-VDMA) copolymers were subsequently modified with either adamantane (Ad) or β-cyclodextrin (Cd) through amine-reactive VDMA to prepare hydrogel precursor macromers containing complementary guest-host pairing pendant groups that, when mixed, form shear-thinning hydrogels. Rheometric evaluation of the hydrogel library enabled identification of lead macromer structures comprising 15 mol% pendants (Ad or Cd) and a degree of polymerization of 1000; mixing of these Ad and Cd functionalized precursors yielded hydrogels possessing storage modulus above 1000 Pa, tan(δ) values below 1 and high yield strain, which are target characteristics of robust but injectable shear-thinning gels. This modular system proved amenable to nanoparticle integration with surface-modified nanoparticles displaying Ad. The addition of the Ad-functionalized nanoparticles simultaneously improved mechanical properties of the hydrogels and enabled extended hydrogel retention of a model small molecule in vivo. In studies benchmarking against alginate, a material traditionally used for cell encapsulation, the lead hydrogel showed significantly less fibrous encapsulation in a subcutaneous implant site. Finally, this platform was utilized to encapsulate and extend in vivo longevity of inducible transgene-engineered mesenchymal stem cells in an allogeneic transplant model. The hydrogels remained intact and blocked infiltration by host cells, consequently extending the longevity of grafted cell function relative to a benchmark, shear-thinning hyaluronic acid-based gel. In sum, the new synthetic, shear-thinning hydrogel system presented here shows potential for further development as an injectable platform for delivery and in situ drug modulation of allograft and engineered cell therapies.

Preparation and Self-Assembly of pH-Responsive Hyperbranched Polymer Peptide Hybrid Materials

In recent years, the coupling of structurally and functionally controllable polymers with biologically active peptide materials to obtain polymer-peptide hybrids with excellent properties and biocompatibility has led to important research progress in the field of polymers. In this study, a pH-responsive hyperbranched polymer hPDPA was prepared by combining atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with self-condensation vinyl polymerization (SCVP) using a three-component reaction of Passerini to obtain a monomeric initiator ABMA containing functional groups. The pH-responsive polymer peptide hybrids hPDPA/PArg/HA were obtained by using the molecular recognition of polyarginine (β-CD-PArg) peptide modified with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) on the hyperbranched polymer, followed by the electrostatic adsorption of hyaluronic acid (HA). The two hybrid materials, h₁PDPA/PArg₁₂/HA and h₂PDPA/PArg₈/HA could self-assemble to form vesicles with narrow dispersion and nanoscale dimensions in phosphate-buffered (PB) at pH = 7.4. The assemblies exhibited low toxicity as drug carriers of β-lapachone (β-lapa), and the synergistic therapy based on ROS and NO generated by β-lapa had significant inhibitory effects on cancer cells.

Dendronized Hyperbranched Polymer: A New Architecture for Second-Order Nonlinear Optics

Organic/polymeric second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials, which rely on the poling-induced non-centrosymmetric arrangement of NLO chromophores, have played a very important role in laser technology and optical fiber communication, due to their ultra-fast response speed, excellent machining performance and low dielectric constant. However, the NLO chromophores have the large dipole moments with strong intramolecular charge transfer, which lead to the intermolecular electrostatic interactions to tend to the centrosymmetric arrangement and decrease the poling efficiency. Since the special three-dimensional spatial separation can minimize these strong intermolecular electrostatic interactions during poling process, dendrimers and hyperbranched polymers have been considered as better topology for the next generation of highly efficient NLO materials. In 2013, by the attachment of low generation dendrimers to the hyperbranched backbone, a new dendritic architecture of dendronized hyperbranched polymer (DHP) was proposed for improving the comprehensive performance of NLO materials. Recent results showed many advantages of DHPs in NLO field, such as easy syntheses, large NLO coefficients and high orientation stability, etc. In this review, the latest advancement of DHPs, including the design principle, synthesis, as well as their application as NLO materials is summarized. The new opportunities arising from DHPs are also summarized in the future perspective.

Hyperbranched polymer hydrogels with large stimuli-responsive changes in storage moduli and peroxide-induced healing

Hydrogels prepared using hyperbranched polymers with dynamic disulfide bonds show larger changes in moduli upon exposure to chemical stimuli for both softening and stiffening responses compared to linear polymers.

Confined Microenvironments from Thermoresponsive Dendronized Polymers

Confined microenvironments in biomacromolecules arising from molecular crowding account for their well-defined biofunctions and bioactivities. To mimick this, synthetic polymers to form confined structures or microenvironments are of key scientific value, which have received significant attention recently. To create synthetic confined microenvironments, molecular crowding effects and topological cooperative effects have been applied successfully, and the key is balance between self-association of structural units and self-repulsion from crowding-induced steric hindrance. In this article, formation of confined microenvironments from stimuli-responsive dendronized polymers carrying densely dendritic oligoethylene glycols (OEGs) moieties in their pendants is presented. These wormlike thick macromolecules exhibit characteristic thermoresponsive properties, which can provide constrained microenvironments to encapsulate effectively guest molecules including dyes, proteins, or nucleic acids to prevent their protonation or biodegradation. This efficient shielding effect can also mediate chemical reactions in aqueous phase, and even enhance chirality transferring efficiency. All of these can be switched off simply through the thermally-induced dehydration and collapse of OEG dendrons due to the amphiphilicity of OEG chains. Furthermore, the switchable encapsulation and release of guests can be greatly enhanced when these dendronized polymers are used as major constituents for fabricating bulk hydrogels or nanogels, which provide a higher-level confinement.

Bentonite-Acrylamide Hydrogels Prepared by the Nonmixing Method: Characterization and Properties

A significant amount of research has been conducted on bentonite-acrylamide hydrogels. These gels are usually prepared by uniformly mixing bentonite with reactive monomers. Herein, a new preparation method of bentonite-acrylamide hydrogels has been proposed to cater to one novel application of bentonite-acrylamide hydrogels. In this method, bentonite-acrylamide hydrogel was obtained by pressing bentonite into a thin mud cake and extruding a mixed liquor of acrylamide, a cross-linking agent, an initiator, and water into the thin mud cake and then subjecting the system to water-bath curing. The effects of extrusion pressure, extrusion time, and acrylamide concentration on the tensile strength and elemental composition of bentonite-acrylamide hydrogel were investigated. The results show that the tensile strength of the bentonite-acrylamide hydrogel first increased and then tended to be stable with the further increase in extrusion pressure and extrusion time. As the concentration of acrylamide increased, the tensile strength of the bentonite-acrylamide hydrogel increased first and then decreased slightly. With the increase in extrusion pressure, extrusion time, and acrylamide concentration, the contents of C and N elements in the thin mud cake gradually increased and then tended to be stable, which reflects the state of the monomer entering the thin mud cake. In addition, the elemental composition of the bentonite-acrylamide hydrogel was analyzed via the scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry method, and it was found that the composition of the hydrogel was relatively uniform in the direction of mixed liquor extrusion.