TY - THES A1 - Vacogne, Charlotte D. T1 - New synthetic routes towards well-defined polypeptides, morphologies and hydrogels T1 - Neue Syntheserouten zu wohldefinierten Polypeptiden, Morphologien und Hydrogelen N2 - Proteins are natural polypeptides produced by cells; they can be found in both animals and plants, and possess a variety of functions. One of these functions is to provide structural support to the surrounding cells and tissues. For example, collagen (which is found in skin, cartilage, tendons and bones) and keratin (which is found in hair and nails) are structural proteins. When a tissue is damaged, however, the supporting matrix formed by structural proteins cannot always spontaneously regenerate. Tailor-made synthetic polypeptides can be used to help heal and restore tissue formation. Synthetic polypeptides are typically synthesized by the so-called ring opening polymerization (ROP) of α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (NCA). Such synthetic polypeptides are generally non-sequence-controlled and thus less complex than proteins. As such, synthetic polypeptides are rarely as efficient as proteins in their ability to self-assemble and form hierarchical or structural supramolecular assemblies in water, and thus, often require rational designing. In this doctoral work, two types of amino acids, γ-benzyl-L/D-glutamate (BLG / BDG) and allylglycine (AG), were selected to synthesize a series of (co)polypeptides of different compositions and molar masses. A new and versatile synthetic route to prepare polypeptides was developed, and its mechanism and kinetics were investigated. The polypeptide properties were thoroughly studied and new materials were developed from them. In particular, these polypeptides were able to aggregate (or self-assemble) in solution into microscopic fibres, very similar to those formed by collagen. By doing so, they formed robust physical networks and organogels which could be processed into high water-content, pH-responsive hydrogels. Particles with highly regular and chiral spiral morphologies were also obtained by emulsifying these polypeptides. Such polypeptides and the materials derived from them are, therefore, promising candidates for biomedical applications. N2 - Proteine, auch Polypeptide genannt, sind große Biomoleküle, die aus kleineren Aminosäuren bestehen. Diese sind zu langen Ketten miteinander verbunden, wie die Perlen auf einer Perlenkette. Sie werden in Zellen produziert, können in Tieren und Pflanzen gefunden werden und haben vielfältige Funktionen. Eine dieser Funktionen ist es, die umgebenen Zellen und Gewebe wie ein Gerüst zu stützen. Kollagen (welches in Haut, Knorpel, Sehnen und Knochen zu finden ist) und Keratin (welches in Haaren und Nägeln vorkommt) gehören zu diesen Strukturproteinen. Jedoch wenn ein Gewebe beschädigt ist, beispielsweise als Folge eines Unfalls, kann sich das Grundgerüst aus diesen Strukturproteinen manchmal nicht mehr selbst regenerieren. Maßgefertigte synthetische Polypeptide, können dafür verwendet werden, die Heilung und Wiederherstellung des Gewebes zu Unterstützen. Diese Polypeptide werden mit einer Reihe an chemischen Reaktionen synthetisiert, welche hauptsächlich darauf abzielen Aminosäuren miteinander zu verknüpfen. Synthetische Polypeptide sind weniger Komplex als die von Zellen hergestellten, natürlichen Polypeptide (Proteine). Während in den natürlichen Polypeptiden die Aminosäuren in einer von der DNA definierten Reihenfolge, welche als Sequenz bezeichnet wird, angeordnet sind, sind sie in synthetischen Polypeptiden zumeist zufällig verteilt. Die Konsequenz daraus ist, dass synthetische Polypeptide nicht immer so Leistungsfähig sind wie natürliche Proteine und ein durchdachtes Design benötigen. Zwei Aminosäuren wurden in dieser Dissertation sorgfältig ausgewählt und verwendet um eine Serie an Polypeptiden mit unterschiedlicher Zusammensetzung und Länge zu synthetisieren. Ein neuer und vielseitiger Syntheseweg wurde ebenfalls entwickelt und der zugrundeliegende Mechanismus untersucht. Die Polypeptide wurden gründlich analysiert und neue Materialien wurden aus ihnen entwickelt. In Lösung gebracht formten diese Fasern, ähnlich denen von Kollagen, welche sich wiederum zu robusten Netzwerken anordneten. Aus diesen Netzwerken ließen sich Hydrogele herstellen, welche in der Lage waren große Mengen an Wasser aufzunehmen. Diese Hydrogele wiederum stellen vielversprechende Kandidaten für biomedizinische Anwendungen dar. KW - polymer KW - chemistry KW - biomaterial KW - polymerization KW - kinetics KW - polypeptide KW - colloid KW - gelation KW - hydrogel KW - organogel KW - secondary structure KW - physical KW - NCA KW - N-carboxyanhydride KW - Polymer KW - Chemie KW - Biomaterial KW - Polymerisation KW - Kinetik KW - Polypeptid KW - Kolloid KW - Gelieren KW - Hydrogel KW - Organogel KW - Sekundärstruktur KW - physikalisch KW - NCA KW - N-carboxyanhydrid Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-396366 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Vacogne, Charlotte D. A1 - Brosnan, Sarah M. A1 - Masic, Admir A1 - Schlaad, Helmut T1 - Fibrillar gels via the self-assembly of poly(L-glutamate)-based statistical copolymers N2 - Polypeptides having secondary structures often undergo self-assembly which can extend over multiple length scales. Poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBLG), for example, folds into α-helices and forms physical organogels, whereas poly(L-glutamic acid) (PLGA at acidic pH) or poly(L-glutamate) (PLG at neutral/basic pH) do not form hydrogels. We explored the gelation of modified PBLG and investigated the deprotection of the carboxylic acid moieties in such gels to yield unique hydrogels. This was accomplished through photo-crosslinking gelation of poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate-co-allylglycine) statistical copolymers in toluene, tetrahydrofuran, and 1,4-dioxane. Unlike most polymer-based chemical gels, our gels were prepared from dilute solutions (<20 g L−1, i.e., <2% w/v) of low molar mass polymers. Despite such low concentrations and molar masses, our dioxane gels showed high mechanical stability and little shrinkage; remarkably, they also exhibited a porous fibrillar network. Deprotection of the carboxylic acid moieties in dioxane gels yielded pH responsive and highly absorbent PLGA/PLG-based hydrogels (swelling ratio of up to 87), while preserving the network structure, which is an unprecedented feature in the context of crosslinked PLGA gels. These outstanding properties are highly attractive for biomedical materials. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 301 Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-102289 SP - 5040 EP - 5052 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Vacogne, Charlotte D. A1 - Schlaad, Helmut T1 - Primary ammonium/tertiary amine-mediated controlled ring opening polymerisation of amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides N2 - Stable commercial primary ammonium chlorides were combined with tertiary amines to initiate the controlled ring opening polymerisation of amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides to yield polypeptides with defined end group structure, predetermined molar mass and narrow molar mass distribution. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 307 Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-102718 SP - 15645 EP - 15648 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vacogne, Charlotte D. A1 - Brosnan, Sarah M. A1 - Masic, Admir A1 - Schlaad, Helmut T1 - Fibrillar gels via the self-assembly of poly(L-glutamate)-based statistical copolymers JF - Polymer Chemistry N2 - Polypeptides having secondary structures often undergo self-assembly which can extend over multiple length scales. Poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBLG), for example, folds into a-helices and forms physical organogels, whereas poly(L-glutamic acid) (PLGA at acidic pH) or poly(L-glutamate) (PLG at neutral/basic pH) do not form hydrogels. We explored the gelation of modified PBLG and investigated the deprotection of the carboxylic acid moieties in such gels to yield unique hydrogels. This was accomplished through photo-crosslinking gelation of poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate-co-allylglycine) statistical copolymers in toluene, tetrahydrofuran, and 1,4-dioxane. Unlike most polymer-based chemical gels, our gels were prepared from dilute solutions (<20 g L-1, i.e., <2% w/v) of low molar mass polymers. Despite such low concentrations and molar masses, our dioxane gels showed high mechanical stability and little shrinkage; remarkably, they also exhibited a porous fibrillar network. Deprotection of the carboxylic acid moieties in dioxane gels yielded pH responsive and highly absorbent PLGA/PLG-based hydrogels (swelling ratio of up to 87), while preserving the network structure, which is an unprecedented feature in the context of crosslinked PLGA gels. These outstanding properties are highly attractive for biomedical materials. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c5py00491h SN - 1759-9954 SN - 1759-9962 VL - 6 IS - 28 SP - 5040 EP - 5052 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vacogne, Charlotte D. A1 - Schlaad, Helmut T1 - Primary ammonium/tertiary amine-mediated controlled ring opening polymerisation of amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides JF - Chemical communications N2 - Stable commercial primary ammonium chlorides were combined with tertiary amines to initiate the controlled ring opening polymerisation of amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides to yield polypeptides with defined end group structure, predetermined molar mass and narrow molar mass distribution. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c5cc06905j SN - 1359-7345 SN - 1364-548X VL - 51 IS - 86 SP - 15645 EP - 15648 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vacogne, Charlotte D. A1 - Schopferer, Michael A1 - Schlaad, Helmut T1 - Physical Gelation of alpha-Helical Copolypeptides JF - Biomacromolecules : an interdisciplinary journal focused at the interface of polymer science and the biological sciences N2 - Owing to its rod-like alpha-helical secondary structure, the synthetic polypeptide poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBLG) can form physical and thermoreversible gels in helicogenic solvents such as toluene. The versatility of PBLG can be increased by introducing functionalizable comonomers, such as allylglycine (AG). In this work we examined the secondary structure of PBLG and a series of statistical poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate-co-allylglycine) copolypeptides, varying in composition and chain length, by circular dichroism (CD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). The secondary structure of PBLG and the copolypeptides presented dissimilarities that increased with increasing AG molar fraction, especially when racemic AG units were incorporated. The physical gelation behavior of these copolypeptides was analyzed by temperature-sweep H-1 NMR and rheological measurements. The study revealed that both copolypeptide composition and chain length affected secondary structure, gelation temperature, and gel stiffness. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.6b00427 SN - 1525-7797 SN - 1526-4602 VL - 17 SP - 2384 EP - 2391 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vacogne, Charlotte D. A1 - Schlaad, Helmut T1 - Controlled ring-opening polymerization of alpha-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides in the presence of tertiary amines JF - Polymer : the international journal for the science and technology of polymers N2 - The mechanism of the primary ammonium/tertiary amine-mediated ring-opening polymerization of gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate N-carboxyanhydride (BLG-NCA) was investigated. Kinetic analyses revealed that the normal amine mechanism (NAM) together with a dormant-active chain end equilibrium were responsible for the controlled nature of this polymerization pathway, but that the polymerization also proceeded via the activated monomer mechanism (AMM). Mixtures of primary amines (1 equiv) and tertiary amines (0-1.5 equiv) were therefore tested to confirm the co-existence of the NAM and AMM and determine the limits for a controlled polymerization. For tertiary amine molar fractions smaller than 0.8 equiv, the reaction times were greatly reduced (compared to primary amine-initiated polymerization) without compromising the control of the reaction. Hence, the polymerization of NCA can proceed in a controlled manner even when the AMM contributes to the overall chain growth mechanism. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Ring-opening polymerization KW - Amino acid N-carboxyanhydride KW - NCA KW - Kinetics KW - Mechanism Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2017.07.062 SN - 0032-3861 SN - 1873-2291 VL - 124 SP - 203 EP - 209 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jain, Varun A1 - Wheeler, Joshua J. A1 - Ess, Daniel H. A1 - Noack, Sebastian A1 - Vacogne, Charlotte D. A1 - Schlaad, Helmut A1 - Bahr, Stephan A1 - Dietrich, Paul A1 - Meyer, Michael A1 - Thissen, Andreas A1 - Linford, Matthew R. T1 - Poly(gamma-benzyl l-glutamate), by near-ambient pressure XPS JF - Surface science spectra : SSS : an international journal & database devoted to archiving spectra from surfaces & interfaces N2 - Near-ambient pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) is a less traditional form of XPS that allows samples to be analyzed at relatively high pressures, i. e., at greater than 2500 Pa. In this study, poly(.- benzyl L- glutamate) (PBLG) with a molar mass of 11.3 kg/mol was analyzed by NAP-XPS; here, we show the survey, C 1s, N 1s, and O 1s narrow scans of PBLG. The C 1s peak envelope was fitted in three different ways, to five, six, or seven synthetic peaks. In each fit, there was also a shake-up signal. The O 1s narrow scan was well fit with three peaks: CZO and CvO in a 1:2 ratio from the polymer, and a higher energy signal from water vapor. Hartree-Fock orbital energies of a model monomer served as a guide to an additional fit of the C 1s envelope. KW - near-ambient pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - NAP-XPS KW - XPS KW - polymer KW - poly(gamma-benzyl L-glutamate) KW - PBLG Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5109121 SN - 1055-5269 SN - 1520-8575 VL - 26 IS - 2 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Patel, Dhananjay I. A1 - Noack, Sebastian A1 - Vacogne, Charlotte D. A1 - Schlaad, Helmut A1 - Bahr, Stephan A1 - Dietrich, Paul A1 - Meyer, Michael A1 - Thissen, Andreas A1 - Linford, Matthew R. T1 - Poly(L-lactic acid), by near-ambient pressure XPS JF - Surface Science Spectra N2 - Near ambient pressure - x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) is a less traditional form of XPS that allows samples to be analyzed at relatively high pressures, i.e., at 2500Pa or higher. With NAP-XPS, one can analyze moderately volatile liquids, biological samples, porous materials, and/or polymeric materials that outgas significantly. In this submission we show C 1s, O 1s, and survey NAP-XPS spectra from poly(L-lactic acid). The C 1s and O 1s envelopes were fit with three and two Gaussian-Lorentzian sum functions, respectively. Water vapor (800Pa) was used as the residual gas for charge compensation, which was confirmed by the sharp peak at 535.0 eV in the O 1s narrow scan. The uniqueness plot corresponding to the C 1s fit shows that the fit parameters had statistical significance. C 1s and O 1s spectra of PLLA damaged by exposure to x-rays for ca. 1 hour are also included. Published by the AVS. KW - near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy KW - NAP-XPS KW - XPS KW - Water Vapor Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5110309 SN - 1055-5269 SN - 1520-8575 VL - 26 IS - 2 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER -