Signaling Recognition Events with Fluorescent Sensors and Switches.

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2019/NP/C8NP00092A

Marine natural products.

https://imechanica.org/files/Qiu_environmental_sensitive_hydrogel.pdf

Environment-sensitive hydrogels for drug delivery

Hydrophilic polymers are the center of research emphasis in nanotechnology because of their perceived “intelligence”. They can be used as thin films, scaffolds, or nanoparticles in a wide range of biomedical and biological applications. Here we highlight recent developments in engineering uncrosslinked and crosslinked hydrophilic polymers for these applications. Natural, biohybrid, and synthetic hydrophilic polymers and hydrogels are analyzed and their thermodynamic responses are discussed. In addition, examples of the use of hydrogels for various therapeutic applications are given. We show how such systems’ intelligent behavior can be used in sensors, microarrays, and imaging. Finally, we outline challenges for the future in integrating hydrogels into biomedical applications.

/pdf/hydrogels-in-biology-and-medicine-from-molecular-principles-3lowrzjjsl.pdf

Hydrogels in Biology and Medicine: From Molecular Principles to Bionanotechnology†

s, and 360 patents, and edited 12 books. He has also received over 80 major awards including the Gairdner Foundation International Award, Lemelson-MIT prize, ACS’s Applied Polymer Science and Polymer Chemistry Awards, AICHE’s Professional Progress, Bioengineering, Walker and Stine Materials Science and Engineering Awards. In 1989, Dr. Langer was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 1992 he was elected to both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences. He is the only active member of all three National Academies. Kevin Shakesheff was born in Ashington, Northumberland, U.K., in 1969. He received his Bacheclor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Nottingham in 1991 and a Ph.D. from the same institution in 1995. In 1996 he became a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT, Department of Chemical Engineering. He is currently an EPSRC Advanced Fellow at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Nottingham. His research group investigates new methods of engineering polymer surfaces and the application of these engineered materials in drug delivery and tissue engineering. 3182 Chemical Reviews, 1999, Vol. 99, No. 11 Uhrich et al.

Polymeric Systems for Controlled Drug Release

We prepared a molecular photodiode system in which the photocurrent direction can be switched by choosing the wavelength of an irradiating light. The molecular system is composed of two types of helical peptides that carry different chromophores and have different directions of dipole moments when they are immobilized on gold. The mixed, self-assembled monolayer generated an anodic photocurrent when one of the two chromophores was photoexcited, whereas the photocurrent switched to being cathodic when the other chromophore was photoexcited. The opposite current response arises from the dipole moment of each helical peptide, which accelerates electron transfer in the same direction.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/304/5679/1944.full.pdf

A molecular photodiode system that can switch photocurrent direction.

Benzyl glutamate NCA was graft-polymerized onto a porous poly(tetrafluoroethylene) membrane in order to study the effects of pH and ionic strength on permeation rate. The membrane was first glow-discharged in the presence of ammonia in order to produce amino groups on the surface. Following graft polymerization the graft chains were hydrolyzed to yield poly(glutamic acid). The rate of water permeation through this poly(glutamic acid)-grafted polymer membrane was pH-dependent and found to be slow under high-pH conditions and fast under low-pH conditions. Under high-pH conditions, randomly coiled graft chains extend to close the pores. The chains form a helix structure and open the pores under low-pH conditions. The magnitude of the permeation rate was dependent upon the length and density of graft chains. Ionic strength also affected the permeation rate.

pH-Sensitive Gating by Conformational Change of a Polypeptide Brush Grafted onto a Porous Polymer Membrane

An insulin-releasing system that is responsive to glucose

Materials to enhance cell adhesion were synthesized by surface integration of peptide, Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser(RGDS), which is an active-site sequence of cell-adhesive proteins. Polystyrene film was glow-discharged and graft-copolymerized with acrylic acid. Then the peptide was immobilized to the poly(acrylic acid) grafts by using water-soluble carbodiimide. The cell-adhesive activity of the RGDS-immobilized film increased with increasing amount of immobilized peptide, and approached the activity of fibronectin(FN)-immobilized film. The RGDS-immobilized film was more stable against heat treatment and pH variation than the FN-immobilized film. In addition, the RGDS-immobilized film enhanced cell growth more strongly than the FN-immobilized film.

Materials for enhancing cell adhesion by immobilization of cell-adhesive peptide

Permeation through a porous polycarbonate membrane, on which a thermosensitive polymer, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), was immobilized, was investigated For photoimmobilization of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), photoreactive azidophenyl group was connected to the polymer either at a chain terminal or in side chains The two types of derivatized polymers had different lower critical solution temperature (LCST) Prescribed amounts of the derivatized polymer were cast on the polycarbonate membrane and photoirradiated When a small amount of polymer was used, a thin layer of immobilized polymer was not enough to cover pores of the polycarbonate membrane, while a thick gel layer of immobilized polymer was formed on the polycarbonate membrane to cover pores when a large amount of polymer was used The former is represented by “porous membrane”, and the latter by “nonporous membrane” The rate of water permeation through the porous membranes changed at different temperatures, although permeation through nonimmobili

Yukio Imanishi

Papers

A molecular photodiode system that can switch photocurrent direction.

pH-Sensitive Gating by Conformational Change of a Polypeptide Brush Grafted onto a Porous Polymer Membrane

An insulin-releasing system that is responsive to glucose

Materials for enhancing cell adhesion by immobilization of cell-adhesive peptide

Permeation Control through Porous Membranes Immobilized with Thermosensitive Polymer