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Polymers
Special Issues
Self-Assembly of Polymers: Towards Multiscale Functional Materials for Bioapplications
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Self-Assembly of Polymers: Towards Multiscale Functional Materials for Bioapplications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2023) | Viewed by 6259

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yong Hu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Interests: synthetic polymers; nucleic acid polymers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymers, either chemically synthesized or produced by living organisms, have enabled the creation of smart biomaterials and biointegrated devices capable of interfacing with biosystems. These polymeric materials and devices can generally be formulated in multiple scales and tailored with adjustable physiochemical and biological features for target bioapplications, such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, and clinical diagnosis, among many others.

This Special Issue on “Self-Assembly of Polymers: Towards Multiscale Functional Materials for Bioapplications” will collect high-quality original research articles or comprehensive reviews in this interdisciplinary field. Cutting-edge developments regarding this field are fostered through the convergence of materials science, chemistry, and engineering to design and manufacture smart biomaterials and biointegrated devices that impact on biological systems.

Potential topics include but are not restricted to the following:

  • Self-assembly processes of polymeric materials and devices;
  • Formulations of polymeric materials, such as nanomaterials, micromaterials, and hydrogels;
  • Design and functionalization of polymeric materials and devices;
  • Physiochemical and biological features of polymeric materials and devices;
  • 3D/4D printing of polymeric scaffolds;
  • Polymeric materials and devices for controlled drug delivery;
  • Polymeric materials and devices interfacing with biological systems.

Prof. Dr. Yong Hu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biopolymers
  • synthetic polymers
  • self-assembly
  • functional polymeric materials
  • smart biomaterials
  • biointegrated devices
  • tissue engineering
  • drug delivery
  • clinical diagnosis
  • biointerfaces

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3415 KiB  
Article
A Star-Shaped Copolymer with Tetra-Hydroxy-Phenylporphyrin Core and Four PNIPAM-b-PMAGA Arms for Targeted Photodynamic Therapy
by Changling Liu, Yirong Wang, Siyu Wang, Pengcheng Xu, Renning Liu, Dandan Han and Yen Wei
Polymers 2023, 15(3), 509; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym15030509 - 18 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1539
Abstract
The novel thermosensitive star-shaped tetra-hydroxy-phenylporphyrin-cored (THPP) double hydrophilic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-b-poly(methylacrylamide glucose) block copolymers (THPP-(PNIPAM-b-PMAGA)4) were synthesized via the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Notably, the low critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) of THPP-(PNIPAM-b-PMAGA)4 were above normal body [...] Read more.
The novel thermosensitive star-shaped tetra-hydroxy-phenylporphyrin-cored (THPP) double hydrophilic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-b-poly(methylacrylamide glucose) block copolymers (THPP-(PNIPAM-b-PMAGA)4) were synthesized via the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Notably, the low critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) of THPP-(PNIPAM-b-PMAGA)4 were above normal body temperature (37 °C) which depended on the hydrophilic PMAGA contents of copolymers. When the temperature was higher than the LCST of the copolymer, the copolymer could be neutralized into micelles in aqueous and could be coated with antitumor drugs and released around tumor cells. The MTT study indicated that THPP-(PNIPAM-b-PMAGA)4 had a low toxicity to L929 and HeLa cells in the absence of light. However, THPP-(PNIPAM-b-PMAGA)4 showed a high toxicity with HeLa cells under light irradiation which could be used as a potential photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT). In addition, THPP-(PNIPAM-b-PMAGA)4 showed specific a recognition function with Concanavalin A (Con A) to achieve active targeted drug delivery. This work provides a new approach for the development of tumor targeting and chemotherapy/PDT. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Self-Assembly of Polymers: Towards Multiscale Functional Materials for Bioapplications)
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10 pages, 3119 KiB  
Article
Hyaluronic Acid Modified Au@SiO2@Au Nanoparticles for Photothermal Therapy of Genitourinary Tumors
by Ruizhi Wang, Nan Du, Liang Jin, Wufei Chen, Zhuangxuan Ma, Tianyu Zhang, Jie Xu, Wei Zhang, Xiaolin Wang and Ming Li
Polymers 2022, 14(21), 4772; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14214772 - 07 Nov 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1993
Abstract
Bladder cancer and prostate cancer are the most common malignant tumors of the genitourinary system. Conventional strategies still face great challenges of high recurrence rate and severe trauma. Therefore, minimally invasive photothermal therapy (PTT) has been extensively explored to address these challenges. Herein, [...] Read more.
Bladder cancer and prostate cancer are the most common malignant tumors of the genitourinary system. Conventional strategies still face great challenges of high recurrence rate and severe trauma. Therefore, minimally invasive photothermal therapy (PTT) has been extensively explored to address these challenges. Herein, fluorescent Au nanoparticles (NPs) were first prepared using glutathione as template, which were then capped with SiO2 shell to improve the biocompatibility. Next, Au nanoclusters were deposited on the NPs surface to obtain Au@SiO2@Au NPs for photothermal conversion. The gaps between Au nanoparticles on their surface could enhance their photothermal conversion efficiency. Finally, hyaluronic acid (HA), which targets cancer cells overexpressing CD44 receptors, was attached on the NPs surface via 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) chemistry to improve the accumulation of NPs in tumor tissues. Photothermal experiments showed that NPs with an average size of 37.5 nm have a high photothermal conversion efficiency (47.6%) and excellent photostability, thus exhibiting potential application as a PTT agent. The temperature of the NPs (100 μg·mL−1) could rapidly increase to 38.5 °C within 200 s and reach the peak of 57.6 °C with the laser power density of 1.5 W·cm−2 and irradiation time of 600 s. In vivo and in vitro PTT experiments showed that the NPs have high biocompatibility and excellent targeted photothermal ablation capability of cancer cells. Both bladder and prostate tumors disappeared at 15 and 18 d post-treatment with HA-Au@SiO2@Au NPs, respectively, and did not recur. In summary, HA-Au@SiO2@Au NPs can be used a powerful PTT agent for minimally invasive treatment of genitourinary tumors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Self-Assembly of Polymers: Towards Multiscale Functional Materials for Bioapplications)
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15 pages, 2285 KiB  
Article
Immobilization of Phospholipase A1 Using a Protein-Inorganic Hybrid System
by Shi Cheng, Zitao Guo, Chaojuan Liang, Yi Shi, Peng Geng, Yu Xin, Zhenghua Gu and Liang Zhang
Polymers 2021, 13(17), 2865; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13172865 - 26 Aug 2021
Viewed by 2016
Abstract
In this study, four kinds of phospholipase A1-metal (Al/Co/Cu/Mn) hybrid nanostructures were prepared for enhancing the stability of the free PLA1. The formed hybrid complexes were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The stability [...] Read more.
In this study, four kinds of phospholipase A1-metal (Al/Co/Cu/Mn) hybrid nanostructures were prepared for enhancing the stability of the free PLA1. The formed hybrid complexes were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The stability and substrate specificity of immobilized enzymes were subsequently determined. After immobilization, the temperature tolerance of PLA1–metal hybrid nanostructures was enhanced. The relative activity of PLA1–Al/Co/Cu hybrid nanostructures remained above 60% at 50 °C, while that of free enzyme was below 5%. The thermal transition temperature measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was found to increase from 65.59 °C (free enzyme) to 173.14 °C, 123.67 °C, 96.31 °C, and 114.79 °C, referring to PLA1–Cu/Co/Al/Mn hybrid nanostructures, respectively. Additionally, after a storage for fourteen days at 4 °C, the immobilized enzymes could exhibit approximately 60% of the initial activity, while the free PLA1 was inactivated after four days of storage. In brief, using Co2+, Cu2+, Al3+, and Mn2+ as the hybridization materials for immobilization could improve the catalytic properties and stability of the free PLA1, suggesting a promising method for a wider application of PLA1 in many fields such as food, cosmetics, and the pharmaceutical industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Self-Assembly of Polymers: Towards Multiscale Functional Materials for Bioapplications)
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