1
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Paiva WA, Alakwe SD, Marfai J, Jennison-Henderson MV, Achong RA, Duche T, Weeks AA, Robertson-Anderson RM, Oldenhuis NJ. From Bioreactor to Bulk Rheology: Achieving Scalable Production of Highly Concentrated Circular DNA. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024:e2405490. [PMID: 38935929 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202405490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2024] [Revised: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024]
Abstract
DNA serves as a model system in polymer physics due to its ability to be obtained as a uniform polymer with controllable topology and nonequilibrium behavior. Currently, a major obstacle in the widespread adoption of DNA is obtaining it on a scale and cost basis that accommodates bulk rheology and high-throughput screening. To address this, recent advancements in bioreactor-based plasmid DNA production is coupled with anion exchange chromatography producing a unified approach to generating gram-scale quantities of monodisperse DNA. With this method, 1.1 grams of DNA is obtained per batch to generate solutions with concentrations up to 116 mg mL-1. This solution of uniform supercoiled and relaxed circular plasmid DNA, is roughly 69 times greater than the overlap concentration. The utility of this method is demonstrated by performing bulk rheology measurements at sample volumes up to 1 mL on DNA of different lengths, topologies, and concentrations. The measured elastic moduli are orders of magnitude larger than those previously reported for DNA and allowed for the construction of a time-concentration superposition curve that spans 12 decades of frequency. Ultimately, these results can provide important insights into the dynamics of ring polymers and the nature of highly condensed DNA dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wynter A Paiva
- Department of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Physical Science, University of New Hampshire, 23 Academic Way, Parsons Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Somkene D Alakwe
- Department of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Physical Science, University of New Hampshire, 23 Academic Way, Parsons Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Juexin Marfai
- Department of Physics and Biophysics, College of Arts and Sciences, University of San Diego, Shiley Center for Science and Technology, 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA, 92110, USA
| | - Madigan V Jennison-Henderson
- Department of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Physical Science, University of New Hampshire, 23 Academic Way, Parsons Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Rachel A Achong
- Department of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Physical Science, University of New Hampshire, 23 Academic Way, Parsons Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Tinotenda Duche
- Department of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Physical Science, University of New Hampshire, 23 Academic Way, Parsons Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - April A Weeks
- Department of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Physical Science, University of New Hampshire, 23 Academic Way, Parsons Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Rae M Robertson-Anderson
- Department of Physics and Biophysics, College of Arts and Sciences, University of San Diego, Shiley Center for Science and Technology, 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA, 92110, USA
| | - Nathan J Oldenhuis
- Department of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Physical Science, University of New Hampshire, 23 Academic Way, Parsons Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA
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2
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Smith L, Karimi-Varzaneh HA, Finger S, Giunta G, Troisi A, Carbone P. Framework for a High-Throughput Screening Method to Assess Polymer/Plasticizer Miscibility: The Case of Hydrocarbons in Polyolefins. Macromolecules 2024; 57:4637-4647. [PMID: 38827962 PMCID: PMC11140736 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2023] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Polymer composite materials require softening to reduce their glass transition temperature and improve processability. To this end, plasticizers (PLs), which are small organic molecules, are added to the polymer matrix. The miscibility of these PLs has a large impact on their effectiveness and, therefore, their interactions with the polymer matrix must be carefully considered. Many PL characteristics, including their size, topology, and flexibility, can impact their miscibility and, because of the exponentially large number of PLs, the current trial-and-error approach is very ineffective. In this work, we show that using coarse-grained molecular simulations of a small dataset of 48 PLs, it is possible to identify topological and thermodynamic descriptors that are proxy for their miscibility. Using ad-hoc molecular dynamics simulation setups that are relatively computationally inexpensive, we establish correlations between the PLs' topology, internal flexibility, thermodynamics of aggregation, and degree of miscibility, and use these descriptors to classify the molecules as miscible or immiscible. With all available data, we also construct a decision tree model, which achieves a F1 score of 0.86 ± 0.01 with repeated, stratified 5-fold cross-validation, indicating that this machine learning method can be a promising route to fully automate the screening. By evaluating the individual performance of the descriptors, we show this procedure enables a 10-fold reduction of the test space and provides the basis for the development of workflows that can efficiently screen PLs with a variety of topological features. The approach is used here to screen for apolar PLs in polyisoprene melts, but similar proxies would be valid for other polyolefins, while, in cases where polar interactions drive the miscibility, other descriptors are likely to be needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lois Smith
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13
9PL Manchester, U.K.
| | | | - Sebastian Finger
- Continental
Reifen Deutschland GmbH, Jädekamp 30, D-30419 Hanover, Germany
| | - Giuliana Giunta
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13
9PL Manchester, U.K.
- BASF, Carl-Bosch-Strasse 38, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Alessandro Troisi
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, L69 7ZD Liverpool, U.K.
| | - Paola Carbone
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13
9PL Manchester, U.K.
- Department
of Chemistry, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL Manchester, U.K.
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3
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Neill P, Crist N, McGorty R, Robertson-Anderson R. Enzymatic cleaving of entangled DNA rings drives scale-dependent rheological trajectories. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:2750-2766. [PMID: 38440846 DOI: 10.1039/d3sm01641b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
DNA, which naturally occurs in linear, ring, and supercoiled topologies, frequently undergoes enzyme-driven topological conversion and fragmentation in vivo, enabling it to perform a variety of functions within the cell. In vitro, highly concentrated DNA polymers form entanglements that yield viscoelastic properties dependent on the topologies and lengths of the DNA. Enzyme-driven alterations of DNA size and shape therefore offer a means of designing active materials with programmable viscoelastic properties. Here, we incorporate multi-site restriction endonucleases into dense DNA solutions to linearize and fragment circular DNA molecules. We pair optical tweezers microrheology with differential dynamic microscopy and single-molecule tracking to measure the linear and nonlinear viscoelastic response and transport properties of entangled DNA solutions over a wide range of spatiotemporal scales throughout the course of enzymatic digestion. We show that, at short timescales, relative to the relaxation timescales of the polymers, digestion of these 'topologically-active' fluids initially causes an increase in elasticity and relaxation times followed by a gradual decrease. Conversely, for long timescales, linear viscoelastic moduli exhibit signatures of increasing elasticity. DNA diffusion, likewise, becomes increasingly slowed, in direct opposition to the short-time behavior. We hypothesize that this scale-dependent rheology arises from the population of small DNA fragments, which increases as digestion proceeds, driving self-association of larger fragments via depletion interactions, giving rise to slow relaxation modes of clusters of entangled chains, interspersed among shorter unentangled fragments. While these slow modes likely dominate at long times, they are presumably frozen out in the short-time limit, which instead probes the faster relaxation modes of the unentangled population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Neill
- Department of Physics and Biophysics, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA 92104, USA.
| | - Natalie Crist
- Department of Physics and Biophysics, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA 92104, USA.
| | - Ryan McGorty
- Department of Physics and Biophysics, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA 92104, USA.
| | - Rae Robertson-Anderson
- Department of Physics and Biophysics, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA 92104, USA.
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4
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Vigil D, Zhang A, Delaney KT, Fredrickson GH. Phase Separation, Reaction Equilibrium, and Self-Assembly in Binary Telechelic Homopolymer Blends. Macromolecules 2023; 56:9994-10005. [PMID: 38161325 PMCID: PMC10753893 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
We study a binary blend of telechelic homopolymers that can form reversible AB-type bonds at the chain ends. Reversibly bonding polymers display novel material properties, including thermal tunability and self-healing, that are not found in conventional covalently bonded polymers. Previous studies of reversibly bonding polymer systems have been limited by the computational demand of accounting for an infinite number of possible reaction products in a spatially inhomogeneous, self-assembled structure. We demonstrate that newly developed theoretical models and numerical methods enable the simultaneous computation of phase equilibrium, reaction equilibrium, and self-assembly via self-consistent field theory. Phase diagrams are computed at a variety of physically relevant conditions and are compared with nonreactive analogues as well as previous experimental studies of telechelic polymer blends.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel
L. Vigil
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Amy Zhang
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Kris T. Delaney
- Materials
Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Glenn H. Fredrickson
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
- Materials
Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
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5
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Goto S, Kim K, Matubayasi N. Unraveling the Glass-like Dynamic Heterogeneity in Ring Polymer Melts: From Semiflexible to Stiff Chain. ACS POLYMERS AU 2023; 3:437-446. [PMID: 38107414 PMCID: PMC10722566 DOI: 10.1021/acspolymersau.3c00013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Ring polymers are an intriguing class of polymers with unique physical properties, and understanding their behavior is important for developing accurate theoretical models. In this study, we investigate the effect of chain stiffness and monomer density on the static and dynamic behaviors of ring polymer melts using molecular dynamics simulations. Our first focus is on the non-Gaussian parameter of center-of-mass displacement as a measure of dynamic heterogeneity, which is commonly observed in glass-forming liquids. We find that the non-Gaussianity in the displacement distribution increases with the monomer density and stiffness of the polymer chains, suggesting that excluded volume interactions between centers of mass have a strong effect on the dynamics of ring polymers. We then analyze the relationship between the radius of gyration and monomer density for semiflexible and stiff ring polymers. Our results indicate that the relationship between the two varies with chain stiffness, which can be attributed to the competition between repulsive forces inside the ring and from adjacent rings. Finally, we study the dynamics of bond-breakage virtually connected between the centers of mass of rings to analyze the exchanges of intermolecular networks of bonds. Our results demonstrate that the dynamic heterogeneity of bond-breakage is coupled with the non-Gaussianity in ring polymer melts, highlighting the importance of the bond-breaking method in determining the intermolecular dynamics of ring polymer melts. Overall, our study sheds light on the factors that govern the dynamic behaviors of ring polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shota Goto
- Division of Chemical Engineering, Department
of Materials Engineering Science, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan
| | - Kang Kim
- Division of Chemical Engineering, Department
of Materials Engineering Science, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan
| | - Nobuyuki Matubayasi
- Division of Chemical Engineering, Department
of Materials Engineering Science, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan
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6
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Staňo R, Likos CN, Egorov SA. Mixing Linear Polymers with Rings and Catenanes: Bulk and Interfacial Behavior. Macromolecules 2023; 56:8168-8182. [PMID: 37900098 PMCID: PMC10601540 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023]
Abstract
We derive and parameterize effective interaction potentials between a multitude of different types of ring polymers and linear chains, varying the bending rigidity and solvent quality for the former species. We further develop and apply a density functional treatment for mixtures of both disconnected (chain-ring) and connected (chain-polycatenane) mixtures of the same, drawing coexistence binodals and exploring the ensuing response functions as well as the interface and wetting behavior of the mixtures. We show that worsening of the solvent quality for the rings brings about a stronger propensity for macroscopic phase separation in the linear-polycatenane mixtures, which is predominantly of the demixing type between phases of similar overall particle density. We formulate a simple criterion based on the effective interactions, allowing us to determine whether any specific linear-ring mixture will undergo a demixing phase separation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Staňo
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Vienna
Doctoral School in Physics, University of
Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Christos N. Likos
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Sergei A. Egorov
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901, United States
- Erwin
Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematics and Physics, Boltzmanngasse 9, 1090 Vienna, Austria
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7
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Ebe M, Soga A, Fujiwara K, Ree BJ, Marubayashi H, Hagita K, Imasaki A, Baba M, Yamamoto T, Tajima K, Deguchi T, Jinnai H, Isono T, Satoh T. Rotaxane Formation of Multicyclic Polydimethylsiloxane in a Silicone Network: A Step toward Constructing "Macro-Rotaxanes" from High-Molecular-Weight Axle and Wheel Components. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2023; 62:e202304493. [PMID: 37458573 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202304493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
Rotaxanes consisting of a high-molecular-weight axle and wheel components (macro-rotaxanes) have high structural freedom, and are attractive for soft-material applications. However, their synthesis remains underexplored. Here, we investigated macro-rotaxane formation by the topological trapping of multicyclic polydimethylsiloxanes (mc-PDMSs) in silicone networks. mc-PDMS with different numbers of cyclic units and ring sizes was synthesized by cyclopolymerization of a α,ω-norbornenyl-functionalized PDMS. Silicone networks were prepared in the presence of 10-60 wt % mc-PDMS, and the trapping efficiency of mc-PDMS was determined. In contrast to monocyclic PDMS, mc-PDMSs with more cyclic units and larger ring sizes can be quantitatively trapped in the network as macro-rotaxanes. The damping performance of a 60 wt % mc-PDMS-blended silicone network was evaluated, revealing a higher tan δ value than the bare PDMS network. Thus, macro-rotaxanes are promising as non-leaching additives for network polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minami Ebe
- Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan
| | - Asuka Soga
- Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan
| | - Kaiyu Fujiwara
- Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan
| | - Brian J Ree
- Division of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan
| | - Hironori Marubayashi
- Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan
| | - Katsumi Hagita
- Department of Applied Physics, National Defense Academy, Yokosuka, 239-8686, Japan
| | - Atsushi Imasaki
- Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan
| | - Miru Baba
- Division of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan
| | - Takuya Yamamoto
- Division of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan
| | - Kenji Tajima
- Division of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan
| | - Tetsuo Deguchi
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Core Research, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, 112-8610, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Jinnai
- Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan
| | - Takuya Isono
- Division of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan
| | - Toshifumi Satoh
- Division of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan
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8
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Ohkuma T, Hagita K, Murashima T, Deguchi T. Miscibility and exchange chemical potential of ring polymers in symmetric ring-ring blends. SOFT MATTER 2023; 19:3818-3827. [PMID: 37191220 DOI: 10.1039/d3sm00108c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Generally, differences of polymer topologies may affect polymer miscibility even with the same repeated units. In this study, the topological effect of ring polymers on miscibility was investigated by comparing symmetric ring-ring and linear-linear polymer blends. To elucidate the topological effect of ring polymers on mixing free energy, the exchange chemical potential of binary blends was numerically evaluated as a function of composition ϕ by performing semi-grand canonical Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations of a bead-spring model. For ring-ring blends, an effective miscibility parameter was evaluated by comparing the exchange chemical potential with that of the Flory-Huggins model for linear-linear polymer blends. It was confirmed that in the mixed states satisfying χN > 0, ring-ring blends are more miscible and stable than the linear-linear blends with the same molecular weight. Furthermore, we investigated finite molecular weight dependence on the miscibility parameter, which reflected the statistical probability of interchain interactions in the blends. The simulation results revealed that the molecular weight dependence on the miscibility parameter was smaller in ring-ring blends. The effect of the ring polymers on miscibility was verified to be consistent with the change in the interchain radial distribution function. In ring-ring blends, it was indicated that the topology affected miscibility by reducing the effect of the direct interaction between the components of the blends.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takahiro Ohkuma
- Digital Engineering Division, Bridgestone Corporation, Kodaira, 187-8531, Japan.
| | - Katsumi Hagita
- Department of Applied Physics, National Defense Academy, 1-10-20, Hashirimizu, Yokosuka, 239-8686, Japan
| | - Takahiro Murashima
- Department of Physics, Tohoku University, 6-3, Aramaki-aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan
| | - Tetsuo Deguchi
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Core Research, Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1 Ohtsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan
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