Les polymères synthétiques tels que les dendrons ou les dendrimères possèdent des propriétés structurales intéressantes. Leur monodispersité et leur synthèse étape par étape permet de contrôler et de caractériser totalement leur structure. De plus, la multivalence offre aux vecteurs une meilleure affinité d’interactions entre plusieurs copies d’un ligand lié au dendron/dendrimère et le récepteur désiré en comparaison au ligand seul. L’adamantane est une molécule rigide et stable dont plusieurs dérivés ont été commercialisés pour des applications thérapeutiques, principalement comme agents antiviraux. De plus, il est possible de le fonctionnaliser sur 4 positions symétriques via des synthèses organiques. Sa conformation 3D permet d’amoindrir les encombrements stériques entre les groupements fonctionnels. Nous avons alors choisi de combiner les propriétés de l’adamantane et des dendrons afin de construire de nouveaux vecteurs synthétiques. Leurs synthèses s’effectuent avec de hauts rendements et chaque nouveau composé a été totalement caractérisé par les différentes techniques d’analyses chimiques et structurales. Les dendrons à base d’adamantane polycationiques non cytotoxiques ont révélé une forte pénétration cellulaire permettant de mieux comprendre les mécanismes d’internalisation des dendrons. Ils ont également été évalués pour la formation de complexes avec un plasmide d’ADN. Des modifications sur leurs structures ont amélioré leur capacité à interagir avec l’acide nucléique grâce à la modification du point focal. Enfin, un peptide thérapeutique aux propriétés protectrices dans le lupus érythémateux disséminé, P140, a été couplé à un dendron à base d’adamantane à 3 branches et nous avons analysé les effets biologiques du trimère en comparaison avec le monomère. / Dendrons (wedge-shaped dendrimer sections) have been investigated as ideal nanoscale carrier molecules for the delivery of bioactive materials into the cells. Molecular engineering of these hyperbranched, monodisperse, well-defined structures can be easily performed using simple organic synthesis. Multivalency constituted by the multiple surface groups at the periphery of a dendron promotes higher binding affinity for ligand/receptor interactions. Adamantane molecule is a rigid structure consisting of four cyclohexane rings fused in chair conformation. The well-defined 3D conformation, the hydrophobicity and the lipophilicity provide to adamantane-based compounds favorable properties for their transport through biological membranes. In this context, the first part of this work was focused on the design and the synthesis of a novel type of polycationic dendrons based on adamantane, which are able to penetrate into cells without triggering cytotoxic effects. The next study of this Thesis concerned the investigation of our polycationic adamantane-based dendrons for gene delivery. We evaluated the capacity of the dendrons to complex a plasmid DNA. Hydrophobic compounds (biotin and cholesterol) were covalently bound to the focal point of the dendrons via “click” chemistry and the effects of the dendron generation, the peripheral cationic groups, and the hydrophobic modifications on the formation and stability of the complexes were studied. Finally, the dendrons constituted of an adamantane core, a focal point and three arms, were synthetized starting from a multifunctional adamantane derivative. We have coupled P140, a therapeutic peptide with protective properties in systemic lupus erythematosus, to an adamantane-based dendron and we have analyzed the biological effects of the resulting trimer compared to the monomer.

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Cette thèse présente la conception de nano-objets magnétiques dendronisés permettant à la fois le diagnostic par imagerie par IRM et la thérapie par hyperthermie magnétique (HM). La validation in vitro et in vivo des propriétés de ces nano-objets et la démonstration de leur efficacité pour le ciblage spécifique de tumeurs sont rapportées. Un état de l’art sur la synthèse des NPs d’oxydes métalliques, leur fonctionnalisation ainsi que leurs propriétés en IRM et en HM est présenté. L’influence de la méthode de fonctionnalisation de NPs d’oxyde de fer puis l’influence de l’architecture de la molécule greffée sur la stabilité colloïdale et la relaxivité ont été étudiées. Des NPs de différentes tailles, morphologies et composition ont ensuite été synthétisées et fonctionnalisées par une molécule dendron et leurs les propriétés en IRM et en HM ont été étudiées. Le ciblage spécifique de la mélanine au sein de mélanome a été montré. / This thesis presents the design of dendronized magnetic nano- objects for both diagnostic imaging by MRI and magnetic hyperthermia therapy (HM). In vitro and in vivo validation of these nano-objects properties and the demonstrattion of their effectiveness for specific targeting of tumors are reported. A state of the art on the synthesis of metal oxide NPs, their functionalization and their properties in MRI and HM is presented. The influence of the NPs iron oxide functionalization method and the influence of the molecule architecture on the colloidal stability and relaxivity were studied. NPs of different sizes, morphologies and composition were then synthesized and functionalized with a dendron molecule and the MRI and HM properties were investigated. The specific targeting of melanin in melanoma was demonstrated.

In this dissertation, research efforts mainly focused on exploring the applications of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) in MR imaging and nanocatalysis via surface functionalization. A dopamine-based surface-functionalization strategy was established. The Simanek dendrons (G1 to G3), oligonucleotides and amino acids were loaded onto SPION surfaces via this approach to develop pH-sensitive MRI contrast agents, specific-DNA MR probes and a biomimetic hydrolysis catalyst. Dendron-SPION conjugates (G1 to G3) have good aqueous solubilities and high transverse relaxivities (>300 s-1*mM-1). They also showed interesting strong pH-sensitive R2 and R2* relaxivities, which were governed by the clustering states of dendron-SPIONs in different pH environments. Values of R2m and R2* m/R2m varied by over an order of magnitude around pH 5. The efficient cell-uptake (~3 million/cell) and low cytotoxicity of G1 to G3-SPIONs were demonstrated on HeLa cell cultures. The strong R2* effects were observed indicating the SPION clustering in HeLa cells. Two SPION-oligonuleotide conjugates were synthesized by coupling two half-match oligonucleotides onto domapine-capped SPIONs via SPDP linkers. They served as MR probes to detect a single-strand DNA with the same sequence to miRNA-21 based on the change of R2 values due to the DNA-bridged SPION clustering. The detection limit of the DNA could reach to 16.5 nM. A biomimetic hydrolysis nanocatalyst (i.e., Fe2O3-Asp-His complex) was developed by loading Asp and His-dopamine derivatives onto SPIONs. Paraoxon and nitrophenyl acetate were hydrolyzed under a mild condition (neutral pH, 37 °C) catalyzed by the Fe2O3-Asp-His complex. The two amino acids Asp and His cooperated with each other on the SPION surfaces to catalyze hydrolysis reactions. This catalyst could be recycled by a magnet and reused for four times without a significant loss of catalytic activity.

La récupération et le recyclage des catalyseurs représentent un véritable challenge économique, sanitaire et environnemental. Depuis quelques années, l’utilisation des nanoparticules magnétiques comme support de catalyseurs a émergé comme une voie alternative pour leur recyclage. En effet, les catalyseurs supportés sur des nanoparticules magnétiques peuvent être facilement isolés et recyclés par décantation magnétique avec un simple aimant. Dans ce travail, nous décrivons la synthèse de métallodendrons porteurs de site catalytiques diphosphinopalladium et leur greffage sur des nanoparticules magnétiques cœur-écorce. L’intérêt majeur de ce travail a été de montrer la grande efficacité du recyclage des catalyseurs notamment en milieu aqueux. L’utilisation judicieuse des structures dendritiques a permis d’augmenter la fonctionnalisation de la surface des MNPs. Ceci nous a permis de préparer des catalyseurs supportés très performants dans des réactions de couplage de Suzuki et de Sonogashira / The recovery and recycling of catalysts represent a real challenge for economic, health and environmental reasons. Since few years, the use of magnetic nanoparticles as catalysts supports has emerged as an alternative for their recovery. Indeed, magnetic nanoparticles-supported catalysts could be easily isolated and recycled from the reaction medium by magnetization with a simple magnet. In this work, we report the synthesis of metallodendrons bearing pallado phosphine catalysts and their grafting onto core-shell magnetic nanoparticles. The main interest of this work was to demonstrate the efficiency of the recycling especially in aqueous media. Judicious use of dendritic structures has increased the surface functionalization of nanoparticles. Therefore, it was possible to prepare highly performant catalysts for Suzuki and Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions.

Les premiers iminosucres multivalents rapportés dans la littérature datent de 1999. Depuis, c’est plus d’une centaine de clusters de ce type qui ont été synthétisés et décrits une quarantaine de publications. L’obtention d’un premier effet multivalent fort sur une glycosidase, en 2010, a initié de nouveaux travaux visant à étudier et à comprendre son mécanisme et ses limites. Dans cette optique le présent travail de thèse a exploité plusieurs approches. La première partie décrit la synthèse de dendrons "cliquables" permettant de multiplier par trois ou par neuf la valence initiale des plateformes utilisées. La deuxième est une étude de la synthèse d’espaceurs rigides. La troisième est la préparation de plateformes modulables, des neo-cyclodextrines, pour obtenir un contrôle plus fin de la topologie des clusters. L’association de dendrons "cliquables" et de plateformes cyclopeptoïdes de dimensions contrôlées a abouti à un résultat sans précèdent en termes d’effet multivalent. Ainsi, le cluster 36-valent à ligands DNJ est un inhibiteur 170 000 fois plus fort que l’analogue monovalent correspondant sur l’alpha-mannosidase des pois sabre blanc (Jack Bean). / The first multivalent iminosugars were published in 1999. From this date, it’s more than a hundred of clusters that were synthesized and presented in about forty publications. In 2010, the first strong multivalent effect in glycosidase inhibition was obtained and prompted further studies of its mechanism and its limits. To reach these goals, this PhD work has developed different strategies. The first was to synthesize "clickable" dendrons which can lead to a multiplication of the initial valency of our scaffolds by three or by nine. The second approach was a study to obtain rigid linkers. The third one was the preparation of modular scaffolds, neo-cyclodextrins, in order to finely tune the topology of the resulting clusters. The combination of our "clickable" dendrons with cyclopeptoid scaffolds gave an unprecedented multivalent effect on glycosidase inhibition. The 36-valent DNJ-based cluster is indeed a 170 000-fold more potent inhibitor than the corresponding monovalent control for Jack Bean alpha-mannosidase.

Le cancer est une cause majeure de décès dans le monde, 7,6 millions de décès en 2008. Bien que de nombreux progrès ont été réalisés dans le traitement du cancer, de nouvelles approches sont nécessaires afin de minimiser les effets secondaires délétères et d'augmenter le taux de survie. Par conséquent, l'avenir de la nanomédecine réside dans le développement de nano-plateformes multifonctionnelles. Il ne fait aucun doute que les hybrides organique / inorganique à base de dendrons représentent des outils très avancés, capables de cibler spécifiquement et d'être suivis par imagerie en même temps. Dans ce contexte, les objectifs de cette thèse sont non seulement la conception de nano-objets magnétiques dendronisés biocompatibles permettant à la fois le diagnostic par imagerie à résonance magnétique (IRM) ainsi que par imagerie optique (IO) mais également la validation in vitro et in vivo des propriétés de ces nano-objets et la démonstration de leur efficacité pour le ciblage spécifique de tumeurs. / Cancer is a worldwide leading cause of death, 7.6 million deaths in 2008 with 13% mortality. Although much progress has been made in early cancer diagnosis and treatment, new approaches are needed to minimize the deleterious side effects while increasing survival rate. Therefore, the future of Nanomedicine relies in the development of multifunctional nano-platforms that combine therapeutic components, multimodal imaging and active targeting. Organic/inorganic dendrimer-based hybrids are very advanced tools, especially for targeting a specific cell type or a particular organ and for being followed by imaging techniques at the same time.In this context, the objective of this thesis is not only the design of multifunctional magnetic dendronized nano-objects, but also their in vitro and in vivo validation and assessment of their active targeting effectiveness.

Fluorescent imaging technologies that offer new ways to visualise and quantify fluorescently labelled molecules are increasing, necessitating the development of fluorescent molecules that can efficiently and specifically label targets in vitro and in vivo. The first aim of this thesis was the study of human neutrophil elastase. Human neutrophil elastase is an important enzyme in the regulation of inflammation but if over expressed can become part of the cause of inflammation itself. To elucidate this dual function and have a greater understanding of this enzyme, an imaging probe for neutrophil elastase was designed. Firstly, the syntheses of fluorescently labelled three branched dendron core structures were optimised, and studied in neutrophils. The selected core structure was functionalised with an elastase specific peptide sequence and fluorescently labelled. The probe was specifically cleaved by neutrophil elastase in an enzymatic assay and in the presence of activated neutrophils (Chapter 1). Fluorescein and rhodamine are dyes that are readily available, are affordable and have convenient wavelengths for microscopy and flow cytometry. Carboxyfluorescein diacetate N-succinimidyl ester (CFDA-SE) is a commonly used fluorescein derivative, widely used in cell proliferation assay. It is mainly used as a mixture of isomers and its synthesis is not reported. Herein a short and simple synthesis of the two individual isomers of carboxyfluorescein diacetate N-succinimidyl ester as well as the equivalent rhodamine variation (carboxytetraethylrhodamine N-succinimidyl ester) is reported (Chapter 2). The labelling properties of these probes were studied in proliferation assays on mouse and human T lymphocytes. Finally, the nuclear penetration of the dendron structure combined with nuclear localisation sequences (NLS) was investigated. Attachment of nuclear localisation sequences to the probe in the presence of fluorescein demonstrated successful entry into the nucleus in human alveolar adenocarcinoma cell line (A549) (Chapter 3).

Chapter 1. Bile acid derived adaptive dendrons Bile acids are naturally occurring rigid, chiral molecules with unique facial amphiphilicity making it an attractive build block for designing supramolecular systems. Synthesis of bile acid derived chiral dendrimers with acetates protecting the peripheral hydroxyl groups has already been reported by our group (Figure 1). These dendrons did not survive an attempted deprotection of the acetates, as the dendritic linkages were ester linkages. To keep the facial amphiphilicity of bile acid fragments intact, we have worked on two different synthetic strategies. Bile acid derived dendritic components having chloroacetate functional group were synthesized and the α-halo ketone was reacted with a bile acid carboxylate to generate a dendritic species with free hydroxyl group having a glyocolate spacer (Figure 2). At the same time we also were able to protect bile acid hydroxyl group as its corresponding benzyl ether and after dendron synthesis, benzyl groups were removed by hydrogenolysis to give bile acid derived dendritic components with free hydroxyl groups and simple ester linkages (Figure 2). Dye solubilization ability of these dendrons was tested. We observed that some of these structures had the ability to solubilize both a polar dye in a nonpolar solvent and/or a nonpolar dye in a polar solvent. We carried out different extraction techniques (liquid-liquid, solid-liquid) and transport experiments to establish that these dendrons can act as both as normal and inverse micellar mimics. Depending upon the polarity of the medium, this dendron (Figure 2, right) can adopt different conformation and hence this is described as an “adaptive dendron” (Figure 3). Chapter 2. Bile acid derived anion receptors We discovered that the self-condensation of 3α-chloroacetyloxy cholic acid produced a “cholaphane” with free hydroxyl groups in just two step from naturally occurring bile acid. This cyclic dimer (Figure 4) is an inside-out cyclodextrin analog having a polar interior and nonpolar outer surface. The structure of this molecule was confirmed by X-ray crystallography (Figure 5). This molecule showed a remarkable ability to bind two fluoride ions in its cavity (K1 = 1900 M-1 and K2 = 250 M-1 in CHCl3). The pair of doublets from the glycolate methylene hydrogen spacers were found to collapse to a singlet and they again reappear as a pair of doublets with increase in the concentration of fluoride. This anomalous behaviour of gylcolate methylene spacers were rationalized by MP2 calculation at the 6-31+G* level which showed that upon interaction with fluoride, electron density on C-H hydrogen decreased while that on the other geminal hydrogen increased. Detailed NMR study and interaction of fluoride with different acyclic compounds enabled us to determine the mode of fluoride binding. Based on the NMR data and calculation results, fluoride binding models were proposed involving O-H…F- and C-H…F- interactions. When the binding affinity of cyclic dimer was examined for other anions, this molecule showed weak affinity to chloride ions (K ~ 100 M-1) whereas for other bigger anion (HSO4-, H2PO4-) it showed no binding. Similar interactions were utilized to generate bile acid based tripodal geometry where those receptors were able to bind anions weakly (K ~ 100-200 M-1 for fluoride, chloride and bisulphate).

The synthesis of well-defined polymer nanoparticles will have immediate applications in the biomedical industry as nanocontainers for the controlled delivery and release of water insoluble drugs. The ability to control molecular weight, particle morphology and chemical functionality and to obtain polymeric nanoparticles with narrow molecular weight and particle size distributions is paramount for their application-specific design. Two synthetic approaches were investigated in the synthesis of well-defined polymer nanoparticles, emulsion polymerization and self assembly. The successful implementation of Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer (RAFT) in emulsion polymerization was the first challenge faced when controlling nanoparticle molecular weight and size. Initially we showed that successful ‘living’ emulsion polymerizations of styrene could be carried out using a non-ionic surfactant. The success was achieved when preparing polymers of low molecular weight (5 and 9 K targeted Mn’s with polydispersities (PDIs) below 1.2). Deviation from ideal ‘living’ behavior occurred when targeting Mn’s greater than 20 K (at 100 % conversion). The ‘degassing technique’ was then investigated as an avenue to generate stable polystyrene nanoparticles by emulsion polymerization without the addition of surfactant (residual surfactant can result in detrimental effects on product quality). The polymerization of this emulsion system in the presence of a low reactive RAFT agent was ‘living’ in nature. In the presence of a high reactive RAFT agent the emulsion system showed ‘living’ nature, however, secondary nucleation occurred, which resulted in broad molecular weight distribution (MWD). Thus, the emulsion polymerization approach to preparing well-defined polymer nanoparticles was giving less than desirable results. An alternative method to prepare polymer nanoparticles with controlled chemical composition and morphology is to self assemble pre-synthesized block copolymers in water. This approach has several significant advantages over the emulsion systems: (i) all polymer chains are of near uniform chain length and chemical composition, (ii) the ratio between the hydrophobic and hydrophilic polymers can easily be controlled, (iii) chemical functionality can be located in different morphological regions, (iv) a wide range of 3-dimensional structures apart from spheres can be prepared (i.e. rods and vesicles), and (v) additives such as surfactant, stabilizers and residual monomer usually found after an emulsion polymerization are not required in the self assembly methodology. These advantages justify our shift in strategy. The only disadvantage of the self assembly process is that one cannot reach high weight fractions of polymer in water and is usually limited to below 2 wt-%, where as emulsion polymerizations can allow weight fractions of polymer close to 50 wt-%. Well-defined amphiphilic 4-arm star polyacrylic acid-block-polystyrene (PAA-b-PSTY) copolymers, prepared by RAFT solution polymerization, were dispersed in water to form core-shell micelles, in which the shell consisted of tethered PAA loops. The entropic penalty for having such loops resulted in a less densely packed PSTY core when compared to linear diblock copolymers of the same arm length. The surface of the shell was irregular due to the tethering points, but when cleaved the PAA chains extended to form a regular and relatively uniform corona. Controlling the polymer architecture enabled the synthesis of polymer micelles with tethered PAA loops, which could be opened to form uniform corona when desired. Three-miktoarm star and dendrimers with miktoarms consisting of PSTY, polytert-butyl acrylate (PtBA), polymethyl acrylate (PMA) and PAA were then synthesized using a combination of Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) and Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition ‘click’ reactions. In all reactions, the stars and dendrimers were well-defined with PDIs lower than 1.09. This was the first step in the synthesis of well-defined highly ordered polymer structures. The synthesis of such structures demands high level of purity at each synthetic step eliminating the possibility of side reactions, which as of consequence lowers product yields. The synthesis and use of reactive solid supports to remove excess linear polymer to increase the yields of polymeric 3-arm stars and dendrimers was employed. These supports are a cheap approach to scavenge polymeric species with either azido or alkynyl functionality, after which the solid support can be filtered away from the product. These supports aided the synthesis of 3rd generation polymeric dendrons and dendrimers consisting of homopolymer PSTY with either solketals or alcohols at the periphery, diblock PSTY and PtBA, and amphiphilic diblock. The methodology used to construct these structures was a combination of ATRP to produce linear polymers with telechelic functionality, with the subsequent use of this functionality to join the polymers together via ‘click’ reactions. Micellization of the amphiphilic structures in water produced polymer nanoparticles of uniform size. The dendrimer nanoparticles were 18 nm in diameter, consisting of 19 individual dendrimers. The dendrimers most probably have no mutual interpenetration and thus pack uniformly to form the micelles. The dendron nanoparticles were 21 nm with an aggregation number of 43 dendrons per micelle, which suggests they form cone-like structures and self-assemble to form crew-cut micelles. Using a convergent approach polymer structures with unprecedented chemical diversity (hydrophobic or amphiphilic) and complexity (G2 miktoarm dendrimers with a degradable core) consisting of PSTY, PMA, PtBA and PAA were then synthesized with high purity using copper wire as the ‘click’ catalyst.