Showing papers in "Biomacromolecules in 2001"

TL;DR: The body of these results corroborates the two-stage process in the mechanism of calcium gelation, where the formation of strongly linked dimer associations is followed by theformation of weak inter-dimer associations mainly governed by electrostatic interactions.

TL;DR: In this article, a series of chitosan/chitin samples with DA's varying between 5.2 and 89% were prepared from the reacetylation under soft conditions of a unique chitosa sample allowing the preservation of the chain distribution.

TL;DR: Although the PEG materials resist protein adsorption, the experiments suggest that the cells can secrete extracellular matrix that can adhere to the gels.

TL;DR: A revised crystal structure for mercerized cellulose based on high-resolution synchrotron X-ray data collected from ramie fibers is reported, and the conformation of the hydroxymethyl group of the center chain in the structure reported here differs significantly from the Conformation in regenerated cellulose.

TL;DR: In this article, a thermal modification/degradation of poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) through in depth analysis of the evolved gas was studied.

TL;DR: These peptide-modified P(NIPAAm-co-AAc) hydrogels serve as useful tools for studying cell-material interactions within 3D structures and have the potential to be used as injectable scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.

TL;DR: The organization of newly synthesized amylopectin to form the semicrystalline matrix of the granule appears to be a physical process, implying the existence of complex interactions between biological and physical processes at the surface of the growing granule.

TL;DR: Plasma polymerization of NIPAM represents a one-step method to fabricate thermally responsive coatings on real-world biomaterials without the need for specially prepared substrates and functionalized polymers.

TL;DR: Glutathione (GSH)-sensitive stabilization of polyion complex (PIC) micelles entrapping antisense oligonucleotide (ODN) was achieved by the reversible cross-linking of the core through disulfide bonds, aiming at the development of a novel DNA carrier system for antisense therapy following systemic administration.

TL;DR: It is shown that a synthetic alpha-melanocortin derivative, covalently coupled to PLL forming the outer layer of a multilayer film remains as biologically active as the free hormone.

TL;DR: Decomposable hollow capsules based on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and a low molecular weight organic molecule, a naturally occurring polyamine, spermidine (SP), were formed by applying the layer-by-layer algorithm as mentioned in this paper.

TL;DR: Investigations on the crystalline and amorphous phase structures and sizes by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) method have provided quantitative evidence that the existence of second comonomers increases theAmorphous thickness of copolyesters but that the influences of comonomer on the lamellar crystal structure and size ofCopolyesters are complicated.

TL;DR: The concentration dependences of viscosity, relaxation time, and terminal modulus are consistent with observations on flexible, neutral polymers in good solvents, which are known to be in the same universality class as flexible polyelectrolytes in the presence of excess salt.

TL;DR: A self-consistent field lattice model of the interface between comb polymer films and water predicts an organization of the top molecular layer of comb polymer with the backbone oriented parallel to the interface in quasi-two-dimensional confinement and hydrophilic side chains extended in a brushlike layer into solution.

TL;DR: The aggregation phenomena in aqueous solutions of hydrophobically modified (HM) chitosan, containing 4 mol % of n-dodecyl side chains, were studied by viscometry and fluorescence spectroscopy with pyrene as a probe and surprisingly fluorescence data reveal the appearance of intermolecular hydrophobic aggregates.

TL;DR: It is shown that mixing DPPC with chitosan in an organic medium before hydration enhanced the hydrophobic interactions between the two molecules and greatly reduced the cooperative unit among individual lipids during the main phase transition.

TL;DR: In this article, the preparation of polyHIPE foams containing poly(epsilon-caprolactone) from macromonomers by free radical homo- or copolymerization is described.

TL;DR: Experimental data indicate that transition metal cations modify both the elastic and mixing components of the free energy, while alkaline earthMetal cations affect primarily the mixing term.

TL;DR: Several types of sugar-installed poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(DL-lactide) (sugar-PEG/PLA) block copolymers were synthesized and specific recognition of lectin proteins with the sugar molecules on the micelle surface was observed.

TL;DR: Inulin, the polydisperse reserve polyfructose from plants such as Cichorium intybus (chicory), has been chemically modified several ways to obtain industrially important biodegradable compounds and its differences from starch and cellulose chemistry are described.

TL;DR: Kinetic analysis of crystal growth in the PLA thin film demonstrated that the regime transitions of PLA crystal growth, from regime III to regime II and from regime II to regime I, occur at around 120 and 147 degrees C, respectively.

TL;DR: Poly(phenyllactide) has a glass transition temperature of 50 °C and degrades to monomer at 320 °C Experiments run at 55 °C at pH 74 show that poly(phenylactides) degrades at ∼1/5 the rate of rac-polylactide as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: Thermoresponsive hyaluronans prepared by graft polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide on HA exhibited a nonuniform fibrous network, whereas the morphology of which is markedly different from that of a nongrafted HA gel exhibited a mixture of sharp needle- and platelike structures.

TL;DR: Examination of surface segregation of peptide-modified and unmodified comb polymers blended with polylactide (PLA) as a self-assembly approach suitable for surface modification of porous tissue engineering scaffolds shows significant enrichment of the comb at water-annealed surfaces and RGD cluster densities consistent with 2D conformations for comb molecules in the surface layer.

TL;DR: It was found that both hydrophobins, but especially HFBI, had a very high affinity for the surfactants, and the use of this method for purifying the proteins from crude fungal culture supernatants is demonstrated and implications of the protein-polymer interaction are discussed.

TL;DR: The results indicate that while protein unfolding and disruption of disulfide linkages or chelate complexes compromises the yield strength of distal byssal fibers, there is typically a rapid recovery in natural sea water.

TL;DR: The schizophyllan complex can be characterized by enhancement of the base stacking, cooperative dissociation, the similar thermodynamic parameters to DNA, and combination of the hydrogen-bonding and hydrophobic interactions to form the higher-order structure.

TL;DR: The surface-functionalization of shell cross-linked (SCK) nanoparticles with the oligomeric peptide sequence YGRKKRRQRRR, the protein transduction domain (PTD) from the human immunodeficiency virus TAT protein, is described, and the cell binding interactions these nanobioconjugates exhibit are demonstrated.

TL;DR: Calculations of end-to-end distances based on equilibrium and projected conformations confirmed that the xanthan chain conformation on the mica surface was at equilibrium and was therefore representative of the conformation ofxanthan in solution, a useful complement to solution-based methods for determining physical-chemical properties of biopolymers.

TL;DR: The degradation of natural rubber, synthetic poly(cis-1,4-isoprene) (SR), and cross-linked NR (latex gloves) by Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria was analyzed by weight loss, gel permeation chromatography, and determination of the protein content.