Disposable MMP-9 sensor based on the degradation of peptide cross-linked hydrogel films using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

Barts and The London Charity and Queen Mary Innovation Lt

Self-Assembling Hydrogels Based on a Complementary Host-Guest Peptide Amphiphile Pair

Supramolecular polymer-based biomaterials play a significant role in current biomedical research. In particular, peptide amphiphiles (PAs) represent a promising material platform for biomedical applications given their modular assembly, tunability, and capacity to render materials with structural and molecular precision. However, the possibility to provide dynamic cues within PA-based materials would increase the capacity to modulate their mechanical and physical properties and, consequently, enhance their functionality and broader use. In this study, we report on the synthesis of a cationic PA pair bearing complementary adamantane and β-cyclodextrin host–guest cues and their capacity to be further incorporated into self-assembled nanostructures. We demonstrate the possibility of these recognition motifs to selectively bind, enabling noncovalent cross-linking between PA nanofibers and endowing the resulting supramolecular hydrogels with enhanced mechanical properties, including stiffness and resistance to degradation, while retaining in vitro biocompatibility. The incorporation of the host–guest PA pairs in the resulting hydrogels allowed not only for macroscopic mechanical control from the molecular scale, but also for the possibility to engineer further spatiotemporal dynamic properties, opening opportunities for broader potential applications of PA-based materials

Poly(methacrylic acid)-Coated Gold Nanoparticles: Functional Platforms for Theranostic Applications

C.R.B. acknowledges the European Union Horizon2020 (Proposal No. 642083, EURO-SEQUENCES) for funding

Peptide Cross-Linked Poly(2-oxazoline) as a Sensor Material for the Detection of Proteases with a Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Inflammatory conditions are frequently accompanied by increased levels of active proteases, and there is rising interest in methods for their detection to monitor inflammation in a point of care setting. In this work, new sensor materials for disposable single-step protease biosensors based on poly(2-oxazoline) hydrogels cross-linked with a protease-specific cleavable peptide are described. The performance of the sensor material was assessed targeting the detection of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), a protease that has been shown to be an indicator of inflammation in multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory conditions. Films of the hydrogel were formed on gold-coated quartz crystals using thiol–ene click chemistry, and the cross-link density was optimized. The degradation rate of the hydrogel was monitored using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and showed a strong dependence on the MMP-9 concentration. A concentration range of 0–160 nM of MMP-9 was investigated, and a lower limit of detection of 10 nM MMP-9 was determined

Synthesis of carboxylated derivatives of poly(isobutylene-co-isoprene) by azide–alkyne “click” chemistry

The final publication is available at Springer via https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41428-018-0130-yThe synthesis of carboxylated derivatives of poly(isobutylene-co-isoprene) (isobutylene–isoprene rubber, IIR) with substitution levels ranging from 1 to 4 mol% and different spacer lengths was accomplished through azide–alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition. Azido-functionalized IIR was first prepared by reacting brominated IIR with sodium azide to full conversion in a 90:10 tetrahydrofuran/N,N-dimethylacetamide mixture. The click reaction of azido-functionalized IIR with acetylenic acids, which was carried out using the copper(I) bromide/N,N,N′,N″,N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine catalyst system in tetrahydrofuran, yielded carboxylated IIRs. The products were characterized by 1H NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy, and their molecular weight was determined by size exclusion chromatography analysis. The conversion to carboxylated groups reached up to 100% as determined by NMR spectroscopy but was highly dependent on the type of solvent and the amounts of catalysts and reactants used in the procedures.ARLANXEO Canada Inc.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canad

Poly(thioacrylate)s: expanding the monomer toolbox of functional polymers

crosscheck: This document is CrossCheck deposited identifier: Suzan Aksakal (ResearcherID) identifier: C. Remzi Becer (ORCID) identifier: C. Remzi Becer (ResearcherID) copyright_licence: The Royal Society of Chemistry has an exclusive publication licence for this journal copyright_licence: This article is freely available. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported Licence (CC BY-NC 3.0) history: Received 2 October 2016; Accepted 24 October 2016; Accepted Manuscript published 25 October 2016; Advance Article published 2 November 2016crosscheck: This document is CrossCheck deposited identifier: Suzan Aksakal (ResearcherID) identifier: C. Remzi Becer (ORCID) identifier: C. Remzi Becer (ResearcherID) copyright_licence: The Royal Society of Chemistry has an exclusive publication licence for this journal copyright_licence: This article is freely available. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported Licence (CC BY-NC 3.0) history: Received 2 October 2016; Accepted 24 October 2016; Accepted Manuscript published 25 October 2016; Advance Article published 2 November 2016; Version of Record published 15 November 2016This work was supported by the European Commission Horizon2020 programme (EU-ITN EuroSequences Proposal no. 642083)

SET-LRP of acrylates catalyzed by a 1 penny copper coin

crosscheck: This document is CrossCheck deposited related_data: Supplementary Information identifier: R. Aksakal (ORCID) identifier: R. Aksakal (ResearcherID) identifier: C. R. Becer (ORCID) identifier: C. R. Becer (ResearcherID) copyright_licence: The Royal Society of Chemistry has an exclusive publication licence for this journal copyright_licence: This article is freely available. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported Licence (CC BY-NC 3.0) history: Received 25 July 2016; Accepted 25 August 2016; Accepted Manuscript published 26 August 2016; Advance Article published 6 September 2016; Version of Record published 1 November 201