Currently there is no successful platform technology for the sustained release of protein drugs.It seems inevitable to specifically develop new materials for such purpose, and hence the understanding of protein–mater...Currently there is no successful platform technology for the sustained release of protein drugs.It seems inevitable to specifically develop new materials for such purpose, and hence the understanding of protein–material interactions is highly desirable. In this study, we synthesized cholesterol-grafted polyglutamate(PGA-g-Chol) as a hydrophobically-modified polypeptide, and thoroughly characterized its interaction with a model protein(human serum albumin) in the aqueous solution by using circular dichroism, fluorescence methods, and light scattering. With the protein concentration fixed at 5 μmol/L,adding PGA-g-Chol polymers into the solution resulted in continuous blue shift of the protein fluorescence(from 339 to 332 nm), until the polymer molar concentration reached the same value as the protein. In contrast, the un-modified polyglutamate polymers apparently neither affected the protein microenvironment nor formed aggregates. Based on the experimental data, we proposed a physical picture for such protein–polymer systems, where the polymer first bind with the protein in a 1:1 molar ratio via a fraction of their hydrophobic pendant cholesterol resides along the polymer chain. In this protein/polymer complex, there are excess unbound cholesterol residues. As the polymer concentration increases, the polymers form multi-polymer aggregates around 200 nm in diameter via the same hydrophobic cholesterol residues. The protein/polymer complex also participate in the aggregation via their excess cholesterol residues, and consequently the proteins are encapsulated into the nanoparticles. The encapsulation was also found to increase the thermal stability of the model protein.展开更多
Precise control over the morphology,nanostructure,composition,and particle size of molecularly organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles （MONs） still remains a major challenge,which severely res...Precise control over the morphology,nanostructure,composition,and particle size of molecularly organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles （MONs） still remains a major challenge,which severely restricts their broad applications.In this work an efficient bridged organic group-determined growth strategy has been proposed for the facile synthesis of highly dispersed and uniform MONs with multifarious Janus morphologies,nanostructures,organic-inorganic hybrid compositions,and particle sizes,which can be easily controlled simply by varying the bridged organic groups and the concentration of bis-silylated organosilica precursors used in the synthesis.In addition,the formation mechanism of Janus MONs determined by the bridged organic group has been discussed.Based on the specific structures,compositions,and asymmetric morphologies,all the synthesized Janus MONs with hollow structures （JHMONs） demonstrate excellent performances in nanomedicine as desirable drug carriers with high drug-loading efficiencies/capacities,pH-responsive drug releasing,and enhanced therapeutic efficiencies,as attractive contrastenhanced contrast agents for ultrasound imaging,and as excellent bilirubin adsorbents with noticeably high adsorption capacities and high blood compatibilities.The developed versatile synthetic strategy and the obtained JHMONs are extremely important in the development and applications of MONs,particularly in the areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology.展开更多
DNA hydrogel is one of DNA-based nanomaterials with unique advantages such as precise self-assembly,programmability,addressability,high stability,excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability,and tunable versatility...DNA hydrogel is one of DNA-based nanomaterials with unique advantages such as precise self-assembly,programmability,addressability,high stability,excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability,and tunable versatility.These features have greatly promoted the development of DNA hydrogels in various applications,especially molecular diagnostics,biosensing,drug delivery,and cancer therapy.In this review,we briefly review the history of DNA hydrogels,the latest advances of DNA hydrogels in biomedical applications especially in biosensing,drug delivery and cancer therapy,and prospect the key challenges and future directions.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.21434008)
文摘Currently there is no successful platform technology for the sustained release of protein drugs.It seems inevitable to specifically develop new materials for such purpose, and hence the understanding of protein–material interactions is highly desirable. In this study, we synthesized cholesterol-grafted polyglutamate(PGA-g-Chol) as a hydrophobically-modified polypeptide, and thoroughly characterized its interaction with a model protein(human serum albumin) in the aqueous solution by using circular dichroism, fluorescence methods, and light scattering. With the protein concentration fixed at 5 μmol/L,adding PGA-g-Chol polymers into the solution resulted in continuous blue shift of the protein fluorescence(from 339 to 332 nm), until the polymer molar concentration reached the same value as the protein. In contrast, the un-modified polyglutamate polymers apparently neither affected the protein microenvironment nor formed aggregates. Based on the experimental data, we proposed a physical picture for such protein–polymer systems, where the polymer first bind with the protein in a 1:1 molar ratio via a fraction of their hydrophobic pendant cholesterol resides along the polymer chain. In this protein/polymer complex, there are excess unbound cholesterol residues. As the polymer concentration increases, the polymers form multi-polymer aggregates around 200 nm in diameter via the same hydrophobic cholesterol residues. The protein/polymer complex also participate in the aggregation via their excess cholesterol residues, and consequently the proteins are encapsulated into the nanoparticles. The encapsulation was also found to increase the thermal stability of the model protein.
基金We greatly acknowledge financial support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China （No. 2016YFA0203700）, Shanghai Natural Science Foundation （No. 16ZR1440300）, the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Nos. 61275208, 51302293, and 51672303）, Shanghai Rising-Star Program （No. 14QA1404100）, Youth Innovation Promotion Associa- tion of the Chinese Academy of Sdences （No. 2013169） and Development Fund for Shanghai Talents （2015）.
文摘Precise control over the morphology,nanostructure,composition,and particle size of molecularly organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles （MONs） still remains a major challenge,which severely restricts their broad applications.In this work an efficient bridged organic group-determined growth strategy has been proposed for the facile synthesis of highly dispersed and uniform MONs with multifarious Janus morphologies,nanostructures,organic-inorganic hybrid compositions,and particle sizes,which can be easily controlled simply by varying the bridged organic groups and the concentration of bis-silylated organosilica precursors used in the synthesis.In addition,the formation mechanism of Janus MONs determined by the bridged organic group has been discussed.Based on the specific structures,compositions,and asymmetric morphologies,all the synthesized Janus MONs with hollow structures （JHMONs） demonstrate excellent performances in nanomedicine as desirable drug carriers with high drug-loading efficiencies/capacities,pH-responsive drug releasing,and enhanced therapeutic efficiencies,as attractive contrastenhanced contrast agents for ultrasound imaging,and as excellent bilirubin adsorbents with noticeably high adsorption capacities and high blood compatibilities.The developed versatile synthetic strategy and the obtained JHMONs are extremely important in the development and applications of MONs,particularly in the areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
基金supported by the National Natural Science of China(31972622)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(XDJK2020TJ001 and XDJK2020C049)
文摘DNA hydrogel is one of DNA-based nanomaterials with unique advantages such as precise self-assembly,programmability,addressability,high stability,excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability,and tunable versatility.These features have greatly promoted the development of DNA hydrogels in various applications,especially molecular diagnostics,biosensing,drug delivery,and cancer therapy.In this review,we briefly review the history of DNA hydrogels,the latest advances of DNA hydrogels in biomedical applications especially in biosensing,drug delivery and cancer therapy,and prospect the key challenges and future directions.
