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Polyplexes, composed of Salmon DNA and very small gold nanoparticles embedded into a dendritic glycopolymer architecture of sugar-modified poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI-Mal) with a molar mass of about 25,000 g/mol, were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential measurements, micro differential scanning calorimetry (mu-DSC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The PEI-Mal-entrapped gold nanoparticles of about 2 nm in diameter influence the polyplex formation of the hyperbranched PEI containing bulky maltose, and in consequence the DNA is more compactized in the inner part of spherical polyplex particles of about 150 nm in diameter. The resulting more compact core shell polyplex particles with embedded gold nanoparticles in the outer polymer shell will be used as components in forthcoming gene delivery experiments. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The combination of stimuli-responsive polymers and proteins that can transport drugs is a promising approach for drug delivery. The formation of ferritin-poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) conjugates by atom-transfer radical polymerization from the protein macroinitiator is described. PDMAEMA is a dual-stimuli-responsive polymer and the thermo- and pH-responsive properties of the resulting conjugates are studied in detail with dynamic light scattering (DLS). Additionally, it is demonstrated that the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the protein-polymer conjugates can be further adjusted by the ionic strength of the solution. The conjugates are also characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-ToF) mass spectrometry, and NMR spectroscopy. The obtained MALDI-ToF mass spectra are exceptional for protein-polymer conjugates and have not been so often reported.
The synthesis of new N,N-dimethyl carbamoyl 5-aryloxytetrazoles have been reported. Their dynamic H-1-NMR via rotation about C-N bonds in moiety of urea group [a; CO-NMe2 and b; (2-tetrazolyl)N-CO rotations] in the solvents CDCl3 (223-333 K) and DMSO (298-363 K) is studied. Accordingly, the free energies of activation, obtained 16.5 and 16.9 kcal mol(-1) respectively, attributed to the conformational isomerization about the Me2N-C=O bond (a rotation). Moreover, a and b barrier to rotations in 5-((4-methylphenoxy)-N,N-dimethyl-2H-tetrazole-2-carboxamide (P) also were computed at level of B3LYP using 6-311++G** basis set. The optimized geometry parameters are in good agreement with X-ray structure data. The computation of energy barrier for a and b was determined 16.9 and 2.5 kcal mol(-1), respectively. The former is completely in agreement with the result obtained via dynamic NMR. X-ray structure analysis data demonstrate that just 2-acylated tetrazole was formed in the case of 5-(p-tolyloxy)-N,N-dimethyl-2H-tetrazole-2-carboxamide. X-ray data also revealed a planar trigonal orientation of the Me2N group which is coplanar to carbonyl group with the partial double-bond C-N character. It also demonstrates the synperiplanar position of C=O group with tetrazolyl ring. On average, in solution the plane containing carbonyl bond is almost perpendicular to the plane of the tetrazolyl ring (because of steric effects as confirmed by B3LY12/6-311++G**) while the plane containing Me2N group is coplanar with carbonyl bond which is in contrast with similar urea derivatives and it demonstrates the unusually high rotational energy barrier of these compounds. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Complexation with dissolved humic matter can be crucial in controlling the mobility of toxic or radioactive contaminant metals. For speciation and transport modelling, a dynamic equilibrium process is commonly assumed, where association and dissociation run permanently. This is, however, questionable in view of reported observations of a growing resistance to dissociation over time. In this study, the isotope exchange principle was employed to gain direct insight into the dynamics of the complexation equilibrium, including kinetic inertisation phenomena. Terbium(III), an analogue of trivalent actinides, was used as a representative of higher-valent metals. Isotherms of binding to (flocculated) humic acid, determined by means of Tb-160 as a radiotracer, were found to be identical regardless of whether the radioisotope was introduced together with the bulk of stable Tb-159 or subsequently after pre-equilibration for up to 3 months. Consequently, there is a permanent exchange of free and humic-bound Tb since all available binding sites are occupied in the plateau region of the isotherm. The existence of a dynamic equilibrium was thus evidenced. There was no indication of an inertisation under these experimental conditions. If the small amount of Tb-160 was introduced prior to saturation with Tb-159, the expected partial desorption of Tb-160 occurred at much lower rates than observed for the equilibration process in the reverse procedure. In addition, the rates decreased with time of pre-equilibration. Inertisation phenomena are thus confined to the stronger sites of humic molecules (occupied at low metal concentrations). Analysing the time-dependent course of isotope exchange according to first-order kinetics indicated that up to 3 years are needed to attain equilibrium. Since, however, metal-humic interaction remains reversible, exchange of metals between humic carriers and mineral surfaces cannot be neglected on the long time scale to be considered in predictive transport models.
Editorial
(2017)
Photothermal therapy is a novel approach to destroy cancer cells by an increase of temperature due to laser illumination of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) that are incorporated into the cells. Here, we study the decomposition of DNA nucleobases via irradiation of gold nanoparticles with ns-laser pulses. The kinetics of the adsorption and decomposition process is described by a theoretical model based on the Langmuir assumptions and correlated with experimentally determined reaction rates revealing a strong influence of the nucleobase specific adsorption. Beside the four nucleobases, their brominated analogs, which are potential radiosensitizers in cancer therapy, are also investigated and show a significant modification of the decomposition rates. The fastest decomposition rates are observed for adenine, 8-bromoadenine, 8-bromoguanine and 5-bromocytosine. These results are in good agreement with the relative adsorption rates that are determined from the aggregation kinetics of the GNPs taking the effect of an inhomogeneous surface into account. For adenine and its brominated analog, the decomposition products are further analyzed by surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) indicating a strong fragmentation of the molecules into their smallest subunits.
A series of new sulfobetaine methacrylates, including nitrogen-containing saturated heterocycles, was synthesised by systematically varying the substituents of the zwitterionic group. Radical polymerisation via the RAFT (reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer) method in trifluoroethanol proceeded smoothly and was well controlled, yielding polymers with predictable molar masses. Molar mass analysis and control of the end-group fidelity were facilitated by end-group labeling with a fluorescent dye. The polymers showed distinct thermo-responsive behaviour of the UCST (upper critical solution temperature) type in an aqueous solution, which could not be simply correlated to their molecular structure via an incremental analysis of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic elements incorporated within them. Increasing the spacer length separating the ammonium and the sulfonate groups of the zwitterion moiety from three to four carbons increased the phase transition temperatures markedly, whereas increasing the length of the spacer separating the ammonium group and the carboxylate ester group on the backbone from two to three carbons provoked the opposite effect. Moreover, the phase transition temperatures of the analogous polyzwitterions decreased in the order dimethylammonio > morpholinio > piperidinio alkanesulfonates. In addition to the basic effect of the polymers’ precise molecular structure, the concentration and the molar mass dependence of the phase transition temperatures were studied. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of added low molar mass salts on the aqueous-phase behaviour for sodium chloride and sodium bromide as well as sodium and ammonium sulfate. The strong effects evolved in a complex way with the salt concentration. The strength of these effects depended on the nature of the anion added, increasing in the order sulfate < chloride < bromide, thus following the empirical Hofmeister series. In contrast, no significant differences were observed when changing the cation, i.e. when adding sodium or ammonium sulfate.
Contactless pressure monitoring based on Forster resonance energy transfer between donor/acceptor pairs immobilized within elastomers is demonstrated. The donor/acceptor energy transfer is employed by dispersing terbium(III) tris[(2-hydroxybenzoyl)-2-aminoethyl] amine complex (LLC, donor) and CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QD655, acceptor) in styrene-ethylene/buthylene-styrene (SEBS) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). The continuous monitoring of QD luminescence showed a reversible intensity change as the pressure signal is alternated between two stable states indicating a pressure sensitivity of 6350 cps kPa(-1). Time-resolved measurements show the pressure impact on the FRET signal due to an increase of decay time (270 ms up to 420 ms) for the donor signal and parallel drop of decay time (170 mu s to 155 mu s) for the acceptor signal as the net pressure applied. The LLC/QD655 sensors enable a contactless readout as well as space resolved monitoring to enable miniaturization towards smaller integrated stretchable opto-electronics. Elastic FRET sensors can potentially lead to developing profitable analysis systems capable to outdo conventional wired electronic systems (inductive, capacitive, ultrasonic and photoelectric sensors) especially for point-of-care diagnostics, biological monitoring required for wearable electronics.
A variety of azobenzenes were synthesized to study the behavior of their E and Z isomers upon electrochemical reduction. Our results show that the radical anion of the Z isomer is able to rapidly isomerize to the corresponding E configured counterpart with a dramatically enhanced rate as compared to the neutral species. Due to a subsequent electron transfer from the formed E radical anion to the neutral Z starting material the overall transformation is catalytic in electrons; i.e., a substoichiometric amount of reduced species can isomerize the entire mixture. This pathway greatly increases the efficiency of (photo)switching while also allowing one to reach photostationary state compositions that are not restricted to the spectral separation of the individual azobenzene isomers and their quantum yields. In addition, activating this radical isomerization pathway with photoelectron transfer agents allows us to override the intrinsic properties of an azobenzene species by triggering the reverse isomerization direction (Z -> E) by the same wavelength of light, which normally triggers E -> Z isomerization. The behavior we report appears to be general, implying that the metastable isomer of a photoswitch can be isomerized to the more stable one catalytically upon reduction, permitting the optimization of azobenzene switching in new as well as indirect ways.
Polymer degradation occurs under physiological conditions in vitro and in vivo, especially when bonds susceptible to hydrolysis are present in the polymer. Understanding of the degradation mechanism, changes of material properties over time, and overall rate of degradation is a necessary prerequisite for the knowledge-based design of polymers with applications in biomedicine. Here, hydrolytic degradation studies of gelatin-based networks synthesized by copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction are reported, which were performed with or without addition of an enzyme. In all cases, networks with a stilbene as crosslinker proofed to be more resistant to degradation than when an octyl diazide was used. Without addition of an enzyme, the rate of degradation was ruled by the crosslinking density of the network and proceeded via a bulk degradation mechanism. Addition of Clostridium histolyticum collagenase resulted in a much enhanced rate of degradation, which furthermore occurred via surface erosion. The mesh size of the hydrogels (>7nm) was in all cases larger than the hydrodynamic radius of the enzyme (4.5nm) so that even in very hydrophilic networks with large mesh size enzymes may be used to induce a fast surface degradation mechanism. This observation is of general interest when designing hydrogels to be applied in the presence of enzymes, as the degradation mechanism and material performance are closely interlinked. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.