1. Facile synthesis of multiamino vinyl poly(amino acid)s for promising bioapplications
Haiyan Sun, Chao Gao Biomacromolecules. 2010 Dec 13;11(12):3609-16. doi: 10.1021/bm101060m. Epub 2010 Nov 29.
We presented a general and facile strategy to prepare biocompatible multiamino polymers. Series of new monomers were synthesized by esterification of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and Boc-amino acids, such as Boc-l-phenylalanine, Boc-glycine, Boc-l-alanine, Boc-l-valine, and Boc-l-lysine. Subsequent vinyl polymerization of monomers gave rise to vinyl poly(amino acid)s with a side primary amino group at each unit if deprotected. Both atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and conventional free radical polymerization (FRP) were employed to prepare the multiamino polymers. A well controlled effect upon molecular weight with the standard first-order kinetics was achieved in cases of ATRP, and high molecular weight polymers were obtained via FRP. MTT assay showed that cell survival rates for the multiamino polymers were almost maintained above 90% and that their cytotoxicities were much lower than that of linear PEI (PEI 25000). Zeta potential measurements demonstrated that the vinyl poly(amino acid)s are electropositive, and AFM measurements showed that the vinyl poly(amino acid)s could tightly condense DNA into granular structures at a suitable concentration. The combination of facile availability, controlled productivity, low cytotoxicity and strong binding ability with DNA promises the great potential of the novel multiamino polymers in bioapplications.
2. Preparation and characterization of poly(l-phenylalanine) chiral stationary phases with varying peptide length
Kaname Ohyama, Kana Oyamada, Naoya Kishikawa, Yoshihito Ohba, Mitsuhiro Wada, Toshihide Maki, Kenichiro Nakashima, Naotaka Kuroda J Chromatogr A. 2008 Oct 24;1208(1-2):242-5. doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2008.08.121. Epub 2008 Sep 12.
Three new chiral stationary phases with different lengths of l-phenylalanine peptide were prepared by solid-phase synthesis with tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc)-l-phenylalanine on silica. The effect of phenylalanine peptide length on enantioselectivity was studied. The best separation of R/S-warfarin was achieved by the chiral stationary phase with intermediate peptide length. These stationary phases were found to exist mainly in alpha-helical conformation by using FT-IR spectra. The end-capping reagents for the N-terminus of the peptide were also evaluated.
3. Selective adsorption of D- and L-phenylalanine on molecularly-imprinted polymerized organogels formed using polymerizable gelator N-octadecyl maleamic acid
Shengzu Zhang, Xinjian Fu, Hong Wang, Yajiang Yang J Sep Sci. 2008 Dec;31(21):3782-7. doi: 10.1002/jssc.200800349.
The polymerizable gelator N-octadecyl maleamic acid (ODMA) can self-assemble in selected polymerizable organic solvents, such as 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and methylacrylic acid (MAA) to form thermally stable polymerizable organogels. A mixture consisting of HEMA and MAA as the monomer and functional monomer, PEG dimethacrylates (PEG200DMA) as the crosslinker, BOC-L-phenylalanine (BPA) or L-phenylalanine ethyl ester (PEE) as the chiral templates, was gelatinized by ODMA firstly and subsequently polymerized by in situ UV irradiation or thermal initiation. The molecularly imprinted polymerized organogels were obtained after the removal of the templates through ethanol extraction. Selective adsorption of D- and L-phenylalanine was performed on the polymerized organogels. The results indicate rather high adsorption efficiency obtained for L-phenylalanine compared with that for D-phenylalanine, which was found to be dependent on the concentrations of ODMA, content of template, and the method of polymerization. Herein, the concentration of ODMA in the organogels played an important role for the adsorption efficiency of D- and L-phenylalanine.
