Synthesis of a zwitterionic N-Ser-Ser-C dimethacrylate cross-linker and evaluation in polyampholyte hydrogels

Polyzwitterions: controlled synthesis, soft materials and applications

Polyzwitterions refer to polymers containing both positive and negative charged groups in one side chain, which have shown unique physicochemical properties and significant potential in diverse applications due to their amphiphilic and net-neutral charged properties. This review aims to highlight the recent advances in the design and synthesis of polyzwitterions including direct polymerization of zwitterionic monomers and deionization of polymers. Furthermore, the formation of polyzwitterion based soft materials such as nanoparticles by self-assembly, hydrogels, coatings and polyzwitterion brushes, as well as the influence of the microstructure on their properties and applications are discussed. The potential applications of polyzwitterions in drug delivery, antifouling, lubrication, energy storage and antibacterial are also summarized. Finally, the prospects of polyzwitterions are proposed.

Outside-in strategy for peptide-based methacrylate and methacrylamide zwitterionic cross-linkers

Polyampholyte hydrogels have shown promise as functional biomaterial platforms with resistance to nonspecific protein adsorption (non-biofouling). Yet there are few zwitterionic cross-linkers available to complement these materials and provide an extended charge density throughout the 3D network. Recent development of a peptide-based zwitterionic cross-linker has shown merit. Indeed, the use of functionalizable amino acids allows for a series of peptide-based zwitterionic methacrylate and methacrylamide cross-linkers. Methacrylate additions prior to peptide coupling provides an “outside-in” strategy when using natural L-Serine or L-Lysine as substrates to produce a series of methacrylate and methacrylamide combinations and expand the library of peptide-based cross-linkers. Herein such dipeptide combinations include Ser-Lys; Lys-Ser and Lys-Lys zwitterionic bis(methacrylate/methacrylamide) cross-linkers. Highlighting the utility of the method, and potential to increase the distance between zwitterionic components, the syntheses of tripeptide Lys-Gly-Lys dimethacrylamide and Ser-Gly-Ser dimethacrylate are also shown.