Physicochemical, structural, and adsorption characteristics of DMSPS-co-DVB nanopolymers

The aim of this work is the synthesis and characterization of the series of S,S′-thiodi-4,1-phenylene bis(thio-methacrylate)-co-divinylbenzene (DMSPS-co-DVB) nanomaterials. The series of new nanopolymers including three mixed systems with different ratios of DMSPS and DVB components, DMSPS-co-DVB = 1:1, DMSPS-co-DVB = 1:2, and DMSPS-co-DVB = 1:3, was synthesized in the polymerization reaction. The research task is to investigate the influence of the reaction mixture composition on morphological, textural, and structural properties of final nanosystems including size, shape, and agglomeration effect. The advanced biphasic nanomaterials enriched with thiol groups were successfully synthesized as potential sorbents for binding organic substances, heavy metals, or biomolecules. To determine the impact of the DMSPS monomer on the final properties of DMSPS-co-DVB nanocomposites, several techniques were applied to reveal the nano-dimensional structure (SAXS), texture (low-temperature nitrogen sorption), general morphology (SEM), acid–base properties (potentiometric titration), and surface chemistry and phase bonding effectiveness (FTIR/ATR spectroscopy). Finally, kinetic studies of aniline sorption on polymeric materials were performed

Magnetic Nanoparticles for Drug / Gene Delivery

Although various drugs have been developed to treat different diseases such as cancer, the therapeutic effects of many drugs have been limited by their undesirable properties such as poor solubility, poor bioactivity, rapid clearance in blood and non-specific distribution. Nanoparticles as carriers have received more and more attention in the last two decades due to their ability of overcoming these obstacles and enhancing the therapeutic efficiency of the conventional drugs. In this thesis, various kinds of nanoparticles were developed aiming at improving the therapeutic efficiency and targeted delivery of anti-cancer drug and gene. Curcumin is a promising anti-cancer drug but its applications in cancer therapy are limited due to its poor solubility, short half-life and low bioavailability. In this thesis, magnetic-polymer core-shell nanoparticles based on non-toxic, biocompatible and biodegradable polymers such as silk fibroin, alginate and chitosan were prepared and optimized to improve the uptake efficiency and cell growth inhibition effect of curcumin towards cancer cells. The size, zeta potential, surface morphology, drug loading / release profile, in vitro uptake and growth inhibition effect to cancer and normal cells of these curcumin loaded nanoparticles were investigated. The results indicated that the curcumin loaded particles exhibited enhanced uptake efficiency and growth inhibition effect on MDA-MB-231 cancer cells compared with free curcumin. Higher uptake efficiency and cytotoxicity to MDA-MB-231 cells than normal human dermal fibroblast cells were observed, suggesting they have specific effects against cancer cells. Moreover, in vitro targeted delivery of curcumin to specific areas of cells was achieved with the presence of an external magnetic field, suggesting these magnetic nanoparticles are promising for targeted delivery of drugs to desired sites applying magnetic forces. Apart from drug delivery the applications of magnetic nanoparticles in gene delivery was also investigated. Polyethyleneimine is one of the most efficient non-viral transfection agents for gene delivery due to its high cationic charge density. In this thesis, silk fibroin was selected to fabricate magnetic-silk / polyethyleneimine core-shell nanoparticles and silk-polyethyleneimine nanoparticles for the transfection of an anticancer gene (c-myc antisense oligodeoxynucleotides) into MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and human dermal fibroblast cells. The results illustrated that the cytotoxicity of magnetic-silk / polyethyleneimine core-shell nanoparticles was significantly lower than polyethyleneimine coated magnetic nanoparticles which is widely studied as a gene delivery carrier. The magnetic-silk / polyethyleneimine core-shell nanoparticles were capable of delivering c-myc antisense oligodeoxynucleotides into MDA-MB-231 cells and significantly inhibiting the cell growth. Employing magnetic-silk / polyethyleneimine core-shell nanoparticles, high uptake efficiency of c-myc antisense oligodeoxynucleotides was achieved within 20 min via magnetofection. In addition, magnetic-silk / polyethyleneimine core-shell nanoparticles exhibited higher cytotoxic effect against MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells than normal human dermal fibroblast. Moreover, in vitro targeted delivery of oligodeoxynucleotides can be achieved using magnetic-silk / polyethyleneimine core-shell nanoparticles under a magnetic field

Synthesis and characterization of linear and crosslinked polymers with the addition of DMSPS

&lt;p&gt;The aim of this research was the synthesis of polymers with the addition of S,S'-thiodi-4,1-phenylene bis(thiomethacrylate) (DMSPS) by bulk polymerization. Styrene (St), divinylbenzene (DVB) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) were used for the copolymerization as main monomers. The chemical structures of sulfur-containing polymers were confirmed by the spectroscopic analysis (ATR/FT-IR). In order to determine the impact of the sulfur derivative (DMSPS) addition on thermal properties of the obtained copolymers, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed. The hardness tests of the obtained copolymers were also applied using a Shore durometer.&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p

Synthesis and characterization of linear and crosslinked polymers with the addition of DMSPS

The aim of this research was the synthesis of polymers with the addition of S,S'-thiodi-4,1-phenylene bis(thiomethacrylate) (DMSPS) by bulk polymerization. Styrene (St), divinylbenzene (DVB) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) were used for the copolymerization as main monomers. The chemical structures of sulfur-containing polymers were confirmed by the spectroscopic analysis (ATR/FT-IR). In order to determine the impact of the sulfur derivative (DMSPS) addition on thermal properties of the obtained copolymers, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed. The hardness tests of the obtained copolymers were also applied using a Shore durometer