The prevention and treatment of cancer and infectious diseases requires vaccines that can mediate cytotoxic T lymphocyte-based immunity. A promising strategy is protein subunit vaccines composed of purified protein antigens and immunostimulatory adjuvants, such as Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists. In this research, we developed two new biodegradable polymeric delivery vehicles for protein antigens and TLR agonists, as model vaccine delivery systems. This work was guided by the central hypothesis that an effective vaccine delivery system would have stimulus-responsive degradation and release, biodegradability into excretable non-acidic degradation products, and the ability to incorporate various TLR-inducing adjuvants. The first vaccine delivery system is a cross-linked polyion complex micelle which efficiently encapsulates proteins, DNA, and RNA. The micelle-based delivery system consists of a block copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(L-lysine), cross-linked by dithiopyridyl side groups to provide transport stability and intracellular release. The second delivery system consists of solid biodegradable microparticles encapsulating proteins, nucleic acids, and hydrophobic compounds. The microparticles are composed of pH-sensitive polyketals, which are a new family of hydrophobic, linear polymers containing backbone ketal linkages. Polyketals are synthesized via a new polymerization method based on the acetal exchange reaction and degrade into non-acidic, excretable degradation products. In addition, the technique of hydrophobic ion pairing was utilized to enhance the encapsulation of ovalbumin, DNA, and RNA in polyketal microparticles via a single emulsion method. Using in vitro and in vivo immunological models, we demonstrated that the micelle- and polyketal-based vaccine delivery systems enhanced the cross-priming of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. The model vaccines were composed of ovalbumin antigen and various TLR-inducing adjuvants including CpG-DNA, monophosphoryl lipid A, and dsRNA. The results demonstrate that the cross-linked micelles and polyketal microparticles have considerable potential as delivery systems for protein-based vaccines.

Die Übertragung der amphiphilen Grundbausteine der Liposome in die Welt der Polymere führte zu Blockcopolymeren, welche sogenannte Polymersome bilden können. Die synthetische Herkunft der Polymere ermöglicht es, eine Vielzahl von verschiedenen chemischen Funktionalitäten einzubringen. Anwendungen von Polymersomen werden vor allem als Wirkstoffträgersystem oder im Bereich der synthetischen Biologie als Nanoreaktoren oder künstliche Zellorganellen ausgemacht. In vielen Fällen wird dabei eine Schaltbarkeit oder Responsivität der Vesikel gegenüber äußerer Stimuli benötigt. Als nächste Stufe der Komplexizität können die responsiven, »smarten« Polymersome innerhalb ihrer Membran quervernetzt werden, wodurch es möglich wird, den Durchmesser und die Membranpermeabilität der Vesikel reversibel hin- und herzuschalten. Diese Arbeit baut dabei auf pH-responsiven Polymersomen auf, welche durch photochemische Reaktionen vernetzt werden. Dabei soll zunächst der Frage nachgegangen werden, an welchem pH Wert genau der Übergang von kollabierten zu gequollenen Vesikeln erfolgt und wie sich dieser »kritischer pH« (pH*) verändern und einstellen lässt. Neben der Herstellung von maßgeschneiderten Polymersomen ist aber auch die detaillierte Charakterisierung ihrer Membraneigenschaften unabdingbar, wofür die Titration mit Fluoreszenz-Sonden eingesetzt wurde. Darüber hinaus wurden Enzyme in die Vesikel eingekapselt wobei die neuartige Methode der post-Verkapselung untersucht wurde.

Die Übertragung der amphiphilen Grundbausteine der Liposome in die Welt der Polymere führte zu Blockcopolymeren, welche sogenannte Polymersome bilden können. Die synthetische Herkunft der Polymere ermöglicht es, eine Vielzahl von verschiedenen chemischen Funktionalitäten einzubringen. Anwendungen von Polymersomen werden vor allem als Wirkstoffträgersystem oder im Bereich der synthetischen Biologie als Nanoreaktoren oder künstliche Zellorganellen ausgemacht. In vielen Fällen wird dabei eine Schaltbarkeit oder Responsivität der Vesikel gegenüber äußerer Stimuli benötigt. Als nächste Stufe der Komplexizität können die responsiven, »smarten« Polymersome innerhalb ihrer Membran quervernetzt werden, wodurch es möglich wird, den Durchmesser und die Membranpermeabilität der Vesikel reversibel hin- und herzuschalten. Diese Arbeit baut dabei auf pH-responsiven Polymersomen auf, welche durch photochemische Reaktionen vernetzt werden. Dabei soll zunächst der Frage nachgegangen werden, an welchem pH Wert genau der Übergang von kollabierten zu gequollenen Vesikeln erfolgt und wie sich dieser »kritischer pH« (pH*) verändern und einstellen lässt. Neben der Herstellung von maßgeschneiderten Polymersomen ist aber auch die detaillierte Charakterisierung ihrer Membraneigenschaften unabdingbar, wofür die Titration mit Fluoreszenz-Sonden eingesetzt wurde. Darüber hinaus wurden Enzyme in die Vesikel eingekapselt wobei die neuartige Methode der post-Verkapselung untersucht wurde.

Organelles are crucial compartments in living cells for carrying out biological events, and cells normally employ compartmentalization to spatially manage their cellular material transport, signaling, and metabolic processes. Engineering biomimetic nanoreactors to replicate biological processes has attracted a lot of interest in recent years. pH-responsive and photo-crosslinked polymersomes, for example, as synthetic vesicles, have tuable membrane permeability and mechanical stability, and may be utilized to build artificial organelles by encapsulating bioactive molecules in their cavity. Most existing reports of stimuli-responsive polymersomes for enzymatic cascade reactions are based on a simple mix of two types of polymersomes loaded with different enzymes, whereas cells process multi-enzyme catalytic systems in which intracellular biological reactions are carried out by combining two or more enzymes in the same organelle. In fact, the most of sophisticated biological functions and features of cells are based on self-organization, the coordination and connection between their cell organelles determines their key functions. Therefore, spatially ordered and controllable self-assembly of polymersomes to construct clusters to simulate complex intracellular biological functions has attracted widespread attention. Here, a simple one-step copper-free click strategy is present to crosslink nanoscale pH-responsive and photo-crosslinked polymersomes (less than 100 nm) to micron-level clusters (more than 90% in 0.5-2 µm range). Various influencing factors in the clustering process and subsequent purification methods were studied to obtain optimal clustered polymeric vesicles. Even if co-clustering the separately loaded polymeric vesicles with different enzymes (glucose oxidase and myoglobin), the overall permeability of the clusters can still be regulated through tuning the pH values on demand. Compared with the conventional enzyme cascade reaction through simple blending polymersomes, the rate of enzymatic cascade reaction increased significantly due to the interconnected complex microstructure established. The connection of catalytic nano-compartments into clusters confining different enzymes of a cascade reaction provide an excellent platform for the development of artificial systems mimicking natural organelles or cells. Although pH-responsive polymersomes present a good membrane permeability in response to alternate pH values and good stability in swelling/shrinking behavior owing to the photo-crosslinked membrane, they are still insufficient to simulate more complex biological activity. The intrinsic pH values for molecules transport are always acidic, whereas the majority of cellular action occurs at physiological pH levels. Due to the closed membrane, the enzyme reaction cannot be carried out efficiently under simulated physiological conditions (pH 7.4). To generate a permeable membrane at a physiological pH value, a new stimulus element must be introduced into existing polymersomes. To self-assemble pH- and light-responsive as well as photo-crosslinked polymersomes, a single azobenzene unit is used as a junction molecule between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments of block copolymer. To compare light utilization, block copolymers based on donor-acceptor-substituted azobenzene junction and ether-substituted azobenzene junction were prepared. Besides, the photo-isomerization of novel macroinitiators, block copolymers and polymersomes was also studied to get responsive wavelength ranges of light. The dye release experiments proven the hydrophobic dye on the membrane of polymersomes can release from the membrane under light irradiation. Despite the fact that blue light (400-500 nm) has a higher release efficiency than UV light (365 nm) and ether-substituted azobenzene polymersomes have a slightly higher release efficiency than donor-acceptor-substituted azobenzene polymersomes, the mechanism is still unknown due to the different power of light sources. Furthermore, based on the results of light-driven enzyme reaction, more experiments are required to confirm the light-induced membrane permeability, such as photo-oxidation of substrates and photo-induced deactivation of enzyme. But in general, photo-induced membrane disorder does squeeze the tiny cargo out of the membrane. The single azobenzene unit as the linkage between hydrophilic and hydrophobic block induced membrane pertubation proposes a novel concept in which a trace of azobenzene unit can affect cargo mobility on the membrane of polymersomes and even propagate the fluidity of water molecules to the entire membrane, thereby resulting in membrane permeability. This approach offers a unique framework for the development of biomimetic behaviors under physiological simulated conditions.:Part I Fundamentals 1 Theoretical Background 1.1 Polymersomes 1.1.1 Polymersomes Formation 1.1.2 Self-Assembly Principles of Amphiphilic Block Copolymers (BCPs) 1.1.3 Preparation Methods of Polymersomes 1.1.4 Cargo Loading in Polymersomes 1.2 Clustering Methods of Synthetic Vesicle 1.2.1 Host-Guest Interaction 1.2.2 DNA Hybridization 1.2.3 Copper-Free Click Chemistry 1.3 Stimuli-Responsive Polymersomes with Controllable Membrane Permeability 1.3.1 pH-Responsive Polymersomes 1.3.2 Light-Responsive Polymersomes 2 Motivation and Aim Part II Experiments 3 Materials and Methods 3.1 Materials 3.2 Analytical Methods 4 Clustered pH-Responsive Polymersomes for Enzymatic Cascade Reaction 4.1 Synthetic Methods and Characterization of Block Copolymer (BCP) for Self- Assembly of Polymersomes 4.1.1 Synthesis of Poly(Ethylene Glycol) (PEG) Macroinitiator 4.1.2 Synthesis of Photo-Crosslinker 4.1.3 Synthesis of BCP with Different Terminal Groups 4.1.4 Synthesis of Bis-BCN Poly(ethylene glycol) Crosslinker (BisBCN-PEG) 4.2 Formation of Empty and Loaded Psomes-N3 4.2.1 Formation and Photo-Crosslinking of Empty-Psomes-N3 4.2.2 Preparation of Cy5 Labeled BSA (BSA-Cy5) 4.2.3 Preparation of RhB Labeled Myo (Myo-RhB) 4.2.4 Preparation of Cy5 Labeled GOx (GOx-Cy5) 4.2.5 Formation and Photo-Crosslinking of Loaded Psomes-N3 4.3 Preparation and Purification of Clustered Empty-Psomes-N3 II 4.3.1 Preparation of Clustered Empty-Psomes-N3 at Different Conditions 4.3.2 Optimized Preparation of Clustered Empty-Psomes-N3 4.3.3 Purification Method of Clustered Empty-Psomes-N3 4.3.4 DLS Measurement of the Empty-Psomes-N3 in the Supernatant 4.3.5 Quantification of Removed Psomes-N3 after Centrifugal Purification 4.4 Preparation and Purification of Clustered Enzyme-Psomes-N3: Enzymatic Cascade Reaction 4.4.1 Preparation of Clustered GOx or Myo Loaded Psomes-N3 (GOx-Psomes-N3 or Myo-Psomes-N3) 4.4.2 Enzyme Activity of Myo Samples 4.4.3 Enzyme Activity of GOx Samples 4.5 Preparation and Purification of Co-Clustered Enzyme-Psomes-N3: Enzymatic Cascade Reaction 4.5.1 Preparation of Co-Clustered Myo/GOx-Psomes-N3 4.5.2 Enzyme Activity of Co-Clustered Myo/GOx-Psomes-N3 Samples 5 Light-Driven Enzyme Reaction Based on pH-Responsive Polymersomes 5.1 Synthetic Methods and Characterization of Block Copolymers with Single Azobenzene Unit 5.1.1 Synthesis of Block Copolymer with Donor-Acceptor-Substituted Azobenzene Linkage between Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Segments (BCP-DA-Azo) 5.1.2 Synthesis of Block Copolymer with Ether Substituted Azobenzene Linkage between Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Segments (BCP-Azo) 5.2 Photo-Isomerization of Macroinitiator and Block Copolymer with Azobenzene Linkage 5.2.1 Photo-Isomerization of PEG-DA-Azo Macroinitiator Based on Blue Light Irradiation or UV Irradiation 5.2.2 Photo-Isomerization of PEG-Azo Macroinitiator Based on Blue Light Irradiation or UV Irradiation 5.2.3 Photo-Isomerization of BCP-DA-Azo (-) Based on Blue Light Irradiation or UV Irradiation 5.2.4 Photo-Isomerization of BCP-Azo (-) Based on Blue Light Irradiation or UV Irradiation 5.3 Formation and Characterization of Polymersomes with Azobenzene 5.3.1 Self-Assembly of Polymersomes with Azobenzene III 5.3.2 Photo-Isomerization of Psomes-DA-Azo (-) Based on Blue Light Irradiation or UV Irradiation 5.3.3 Photo-Isomerization of Psomes-Azo (-) Based on Blue Light Irradiation or UV Irradiation 5.3.4 Photo-Crosslinking of Polymersomes with Azobenzene 5.3.5 DLS Measurement of Photo-Crosslinked Polymersomes with Azobenzene through pH Titration 5.3.6 Photo-Stability of Polymersomes with Azobenzene 5.3.7 In-Situ Loaded Nile Red in Non-Photo-Crosslinked Polymersomes with Azobenzene (NR-Psomes-DA-Azo (+) or NR-Psomes-Azo (+)) 5.3.8 In-Situ Loaded Myo in Photo-Crosslinked Polymersomes with Azobenzene (Myo-Psomes-DA-Azo (+) or Myo-Psomes-Azo (+)) 5.4 Light-Induced Dye Release from Polymersomes with Azobenzene 5.4.1 Fluorescence Photobleaching of Nile Red under Blue Light or UV Irradiation 5.4.2 Nile Red Release under Blue Light or UV Irradiation 5.5 Light-Driven Enzyme Reaction Based on Polymersomes with Azobenzene Part III Results and Discussions 6 Clustered pH-Responsive Polymersomes for Enzymatic Cascade Reaction 6.1 Aim and Strategy 6.2 Photo-Crosslinked and pH-Responsive Polymersomes 6.2.1 Synthesis and Characterization of Block Copolymers (BCPs) 6.2.2 Formation and Characterization of Polymersomes 6.3 Preparation and Purification of Clustered Empty-Psomes-N3 6.3.1 Key Parameters of Clustering Process 6.3.2 Purification Methods of Clustered Empty-Psomes-N3 6.4 Preparation and Purification of Clustered Empty-Psomes-N3 and Enzyme-Psomes- N3 90 6.4.1 Formation and Characterization of Enzyme in-Situ Loaded Psomes-N3 (Enzyme- Psomes-N3) 6.4.2 Enzyme Location in Polymersomes 6.4.3 Deeper Characterization of Clustered Empty-Psomes-N3 and Clustered Enzyme- Psomes-N3 6.5 Clustered Enzyme-Psomes-N3 for Enzymatic Cascade Reaction 6.5.1 Influence of Enzyme Activity on Clustering Condition IV 6.5.2 Mixed Enzyme-Psomes-N3 for Enzymatic Cascade Reaction 6.5.3 Co-Clustered Enzyme-Psomes-N3 for Enzymatic Cascade Reaction 6.6 Summary 7 Light-Driven Enzyme Reaction Based on pH-Responsive Polymersomes 7.1 Aim and Strategy 7.2 Preparation and Characterization of Light-Responsive Polymersomes 7.2.1 Synthesis and Characterization of BCP with Different Types of Azobenzene Unit 7.2.2 Self-Assembly and Photo-Crosslinking of Light-Responsive Polymersomes 7.2.3 Characterization of Photo-Crosslinked Light-Responsive Polymersomes 7.3 Photo-Isomerization of Azobenzene Containing Polymeric Macromolecules and Vesicles 7.3.1 Photo-Isomerization of Azobenzene Containing PEG Macroinitiators 7.3.2 Photo-Isomerization of Azobenzene Containing BCPs and Polymersomes 7.4 Light-Driven Dye Release from Polymersomes with Azobenzene at Simulated Physiological Conditions 7.4.1 Characterization of In-Situ Nile Red Loaded Polymersomes 7.4.2 Light-Driven Dye Release from Polymersomes at Simulated Physiological Conditions 7.5 Light-Induced Enzyme Reaction in Polymersomes with Azobenzene at Simulated Physiological Conditions 7.5.1 Characterization of Polymersomes in-Situ Loaded Myoglobin 7.5.2 Light-Induced Enzyme Reaction in Polymersomes at Simulated Physiological Conditions 7.6 Summary 8 Conclusion and Outlook Reference List of Figures List of Tables List of Abbreviations and Symbols Appendix Acknowledgements Versicherung

[pt] O uso de espumas de CO2 em aplicações de recuperação avançada de petróleo (EOR) requer a formação de espumas estáveis sob condições adversas de reservatório, como salmouras contendo cátions bivalentes, alta temperatura e pressão, e uma ampla faixa de pH. Nesse contexto, os surfactantes responsivos ao pH que se comportam como surfactantes não-iônicos em meio básico (ausência de CO2), e são convertidos em espécies catiônicas em condições ácidas (presença de CO2), têm se mostrado uma alternativa adequada para formulações espumantes usadas em métodos de EOR baseados em injeção de CO2. O bis-(2-hidroxietil) cocoalquilamina (C12) se destaca como um surfactante responsivo ao pH (pKa = 6,4) promissor, com potencial para estas aplicações. Contudo, há poucos trabalhos sobre as propriedades das espumas de C12 em diferentes condições de pH, principalmente quando o surfactante se encontra na forma não-iônica. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o comportamento deste surfactante em misturas, visando potencializar suas propriedades espumantes através de efeitos de sinergia na interface. Para isso foram estudadas diferentes propriedades do C12, como comportamento de fases, propriedades interfaciais e comportamentos das espumas, tanto em formulações individuais quanto em misturas com outros surfactantes. Estes dados foram correlacionados com o comportamento do C12 em diferentes condições (pH, temperatura, pressão, e misturas de diferentes composições). Foi observado que em condições básicas ocorre separação de fases, enquanto a espumabilidade e a estabilidade das espumas de C12 no estado catiônico (pH menor que pKa) foram superiores, comparado ao estado não-iônico (pH maior que pKa). Para as misturas de C12 com outros surfactantes (alfa-olefina sulfonato de sódio, AOS; alquilamina etoxilada, TFA20; e cocamidopropil hidroxisultaína, CAHS), as formulações contendo CAHS promoveram uma melhora da solubilidade do C12 em pH alcalinos, estendendo sua aplicabilidade, e foram as únicas a exibir uma sinergia significativa em relação à redução da tensão superficial e à estabilização da espuma. A sinergia interfacial entre C12 e CAHS foi confirmada pelo valor negativo do parâmetro de interação. O efeito sinérgico na estabilidade da espuma também foi observado em condições de alta pressão (100 bar) e alta temperatura (65 graus C), evidenciado pela diminuição da taxa de crescimento de bolhas obtida com a mistura C12:CAHS (1:2) em relação aos componentes individuais, o qual indica uma redução dos fenômenos de coalescência e envelhecimento de Ostwald. Os resultados obtidos neste estudo, mostraram o potencial do uso de misturas sinérgicas com surfactantes para ajustar a sua solubilidade e as propriedades das espumas de surfactantes responsivos ao pH, para um melhor desempenho dos métodos de EOR baseados no uso de espuma sob condições de alta pressão e alta temperatura. / [en] The use of CO2-foams in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) applications requires the formation of stable foams under harsh reservoir conditions, such as brines containing divalent cations, high temperature and pressure and a wide pH range. In this context, pH-responsive surfactants that behave as nonionic surfactants in a basic medium (absence of CO2), and are converted to cationic species under acidic conditions (presence of CO2), have been shown to be a suitable alternative for foaming formulations used in CO2-based EOR methods. The bis-(2-hydroxyethyl) cocoalkylamine (C12) has been reported as a promising pH-responsive surfactant (pKa = 6.4), with great potential for this type of applications. However, there is limited work on the properties of C12 foams under different pH conditions, especially in the nonionic state of the surfactant. This work aimed to study the behavior of this surfactant in mixtures, aiming to improve its foaming properties through synergy effects at the interface. For this, different properties of C12 were studied, such as phase behavior, interfacial properties, and foam behavior, in individual formulations and in mixtures with other surfactants. These data were correlated with the individual behavior of C12 under different conditions (pH, temperature, pressure, mixtures of different compositions). It was observed that under basic conditions phase separation occurs, while the foamability and stability of C12 foams in the cationic state (pH less than pKa) were higher compared to the nonionic state (pH bigger then pKa). For mixtures of C12 with other surfactants (sodium olefin sulfonate, AOS; ethoxylated alkylamine, TFA20; and cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine, CAHS), formulations containing CAHS promoted an improvement in the solubility of C12 at alkaline pH, extending its applicability, and were the only ones to exhibit significant synergy in terms of surface tension reduction and foam stabilization. The interfacial synergy between C12 and CAHS was confirmed by the negative value of the interaction parameter. The synergistic effect on foam stability was also observed under high pressure (100 bar) and high temperature (65 degrees C) conditions, evidenced by the decrease in the bubble growth rate obtained with the C12:CAHS mixture (1:2) in relation to the individual components, which indicates a reduction of the Ostwald ripening and coalescence. The results obtained in this study showed the potential use of synergistic mixtures of surfactants to adjust the solubility and properties of foams with pH-responsive surfactants for better performance in foam-based EOR methods, under high pressure and high temperature conditions.

<p>Understanding and predicting chemical phenomena is the main goal of computational chemistry. In this thesis I present my work on applying computational approaches to study chemical processes in biological and supramolecular systems.</p> <p>pH-responsive molecular tweezers have been proposed as an approach for targeting drug-delivery to tumors, which tend to have a lower pH than normal cells. In chapter 2 I present a computational study I performed on a pH-responsive molecular tweezer using <em>ab initio</em> quantum chemistry in the gas phase and molecular dynamics simulations in solution. The binding free energy in solution was calculated using Steered Molecular Dynamics. We observe, in atomistic detail, the pH-induced conformational switch of the tweezer and the resulting release of the drug molecule. Even when the tweezer opens, the drug molecule remains near a hydrophobic arm of the molecular tweezer. Drug release cannot occur, it seems, unless the tweezer is a hydrophobic environment with low pH.</p> <p>The protonation state of amino acid residues in proteins depends on their respective pK_a values. Computational methods are particularly important for estimating the pK_a values of buried and active site residues, where experimental data is scarce. In chapter 3 I used the cluster model approach to predict the pK_a of some challenging protein residues and for which methods based on the numerical solution of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation and empirical approaches fail. The ionizable residue and its close environment were treated quantum mechanically, while the rest of the protein was replaced by a uniform dielectric continuum. The approach was found to overestimate the electrostatic interaction leading to predicting lower pK_a values.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:42:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 KeilaSA_TESE.pdf: 6694216 bytes, checksum: df1754b48618e11f2ae95e003ae20c2c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-12-27 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Chitosan is a biopolymer derived from the shells of crustaceans, biodegradable, inexpensive and renewable with important physical and chemical properties. Moreover, the different modifications possible in its chemical structure generate new properties, making it an attractive polysaccharide owing to its range of potential applications. Polymers have been used in oil production operations. However, growing concern over environmental constraints has prompted oil industry to search for environmentally sustainable materials. As such, this study sought to obtain chitosan derivatives grafted with hydrophilic (poly(ethylene glycol), mPEG) and/or hydrophobic groups (n-dodecyl) via a simple (one-pot) method and evaluate their physicochemical properties as a function of varying pH using rheology, small-angle Xray scattering (SAXS), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential. The chitosan derivatives were prepared using reductive alkylation under mild reaction conditions and the chemical structure of the polymers was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) and CHN elemental analysis. Considering a constant mPEG/Chitosan molar ratio on modification of chitosan, the solubility of the polymer across a wide pH range (acidic, neutral and basic) could only be improved when some of the amino groups were submitted to reacetylation using the one-pot method. Under these conditions, solubility is maintained even with the simultaneous insertion of n-dodecyl. On the other hand, the solubility of derivatives obtained only through mPEG incorporation using the traditional methodology, or with the ndodecyl group, was similar to that of its precursor. The hydrophilic group promoted decreased viscosity of the polymer solutions at 10 g/L in acid medium. However, at basic pH, both viscosity and thermal stability increased, as well as exhibited a pronounced pseudoplastic behavior, suggesting strong intermolecular associations in the alkaline medium. The SAXS results showed a polyelectrolyte behavior with the decrease in pH for the polymer systems. DLS analyses revealed that although the dilute polymer solutions at 1 g/L and pH 3 exhibited a high density of protonated amino groups along the polymer chain, the high degree of charge contributed significantly to aggregation, promoting increased particle size with the decrease in pH. Furthermore, the hydrophobic group also contributed to increasing the size of aggregates in solution at pH 3, whereas the hydrophilic group helped reduce their size across the entire pH range. Nevertheless, the nature of aggregation was dependent on the pH of the medium. Zeta potential results indicated that its values do not depend solely on the surface charge of the particle, but are also dependent on the net charge of the medium. In this study, water soluble associative polymers exhibit properties that can be of great interest in the petroleum industry / A quitosana ? um biopol?mero derivado de carapa?as de crust?ceos, de baixo custo, biodegrad?vel, renov?vel, que apresenta propriedades f?sico-qu?micas importantes e, ainda, proporciona diferentes possibilidades de modifica??es em sua estrutura qu?mica, gerando novas propriedades, o que torna esse polissacar?deo muito atraente do ponto de vista de aplica??o. Os pol?meros s?o utilizados em v?rias opera??es na produ??o do petr?leo. Entretanto, a crescente preocupa??o com as restri??es ambientais t?m promovido a busca por materiais ambientalmente sustent?veis pela ind?stria do petr?leo. Dessa forma, esse estudo prop?s a obten??o de quitosana graftizada com grupos hidrof?lico (poli(etileno glicol), mPEG) e/ou hidrof?bico (n-dodecila) por uma metodologia mais simples (one-pot) e a avalia??o de suas propriedades f?sico-qu?micas em fun??o da varia??o de pH, atrav?s das an?lises de reologia, espalhamento de raios-X a baixos ?ngulos (SAXS), espalhamento de luz din?mico (DLS) e potencial zeta. Os derivados de quitosana foram preparados utilizando a rea??o de alquila??o redutiva em condi??es reacionais brandas e a estrutura qu?mica dos pol?meros foi caracterizada por resson?ncia magn?tica nuclear de hidrog?nio (RMN 1H) e an?lise elementar CHN. Considerando constante a raz?o molar mPEG/Quitosana na modifica??o qu?mica da quitosana em diferentes metodologias, foi poss?vel melhorar a solubilidade da quitosana em uma ampla faixa de pH (?cido, neutro e b?sico) usando a metodologia one-pot, em que uma parte dos grupos amino foi reacetilada. Nesta condi??o, at? mesmo com a inser??o simult?nea do n-dodecila, a solubilidade se manteve. Por outro lado, a solubilidade dos derivados obtidos apenas com a incorpora??o de mPEG atrav?s de metodologia tradicional, ou com o grupo ndodecila, foi similar ao seu precursor. O grupo hidrof?lico promoveu a diminui??o da viscosidade das solu??es polim?ricas a 10 g/L em meio ?cido. Entretanto, em pH b?sico, esse grupo contribuiu para o aumento da viscosidade e da estabilidade t?rmica das solu??es, assim como, favoreceu um comportamento pseudopl?stico mais acentuado, sugerindo fortes associa??es intermoleculares no meio alcalino. Os resultados de SAXS apresentaram um comportamento de polieletr?lito com a diminui??o do pH para os sistemas polim?ricos. As an?lises de DLS revelaram que as solu??es dilu?das dos pol?meros a 1 g/L em pH 3, embora apresentem uma alta densidade de grupos amino protonados ao longo da cadeia polim?rica, o alto grau de cargas contribuiu significativamente para a agrega??o, promovendo o aumento do tamanho das part?culas com a diminui??o do pH. Al?m disso, o grupo hidrof?bico tamb?m contribuiu para aumentar o tamanho dos agregados em solu??o no pH 3 e o grupo hidrof?lico favoreceu para reduzi-los em toda faixa de pH. Entretanto, a natureza de agrega??o foi dependente do pH do meio. Os resultados do potencial zeta indicaram que seus valores n?o dependem apenas da carga da superf?cie da part?cula, mas ? resultante da carga l?quida do meio. Os sistemas polim?ricos associativos em solu??o aquosa obtidos neste estudo apresentam propriedades que podem ser atraentes em v?rias aplica??es na ind?stria do petr?leo

Protein therapeutics offer numerous advantages over small molecule drugs and are rapidly becoming one of the most prominent classes of therapeutics. Unfortunately, they are delivered almost exclusively by injection due to biological obstacles preventing high bioavailability via the oral route. In this work, numerous approaches to overcoming these barriers are explored. PH-Responsive poly(itaconic acid-co-N-vinylpyrrolidone) (P(IA-co-NVP)) hydrogels were synthesized, and the effects of monomer ratios, crosslinking density, microparticle size, protein size, and loading conditions were systematically evaluated using in vitro tests. P(IA-co-NVP) hydrogels demonstrated up to 69% greater equilibrium swelling at neutral conditions than previously-studied poly(methacrylic acid-co-N-vinylpyrrolidone) hydrogels and a 10-fold improvement in time-sensitive swelling experiments. Furthermore, P(IA-co-NVP) hydrogel microparticles demonstrated up to a 2.7-fold improvement in delivery of salmon calcitonin (sCT) compared to methacrylic acid-based systems, with a formulation comprised of a 1:2 ratio of itaconic acid to N-vinylpyrrolidone demonstrating the greatest delivery capability. Vast improvement in delivery capability was achieved using reduced ionic strength conditions during drug loading. Use of a 1.50 mM PBS buffer during loading yielded an 83-fold improvement in delivery of sCT compared to a standard 150 mM buffer. With this improvement, a daily dose of sCT could be provided using P(IA-co-NVP) microparticles in one standard-sized gel capsule. P(IA-co-NVP) was also tested with larger proteins urokinase and Rituxan. Crosslinking density provided a facile method for tuning hydrogels to accommodate a wide range of protein sizes. The effects of protein PEGylation were also explored. PEGylated sCT displayed lower release from P(IA-co-NVP) microparticles, but displayed increased apparent permeability across a Caco-2 monolayer by two orders of magnitude. Therefore, PEG-containing systems could yield high bioavailability of orally delivered proteins. Finally, a modified SELEX protocol for cellular selection of transcellular transport-initiating aptamers was developed and used to identify aptamer sequences showing enhanced intestinal perfusion. Over three selection cycles, the selected aptamer library showed significant increases in absorption, and from an initial library of 1.1 trillion sequences, 5-10 sequences were selected that demonstrated up to 10-fold amplification compared to the naïve library. These sequences could provide a means of overcoming the significant final barrier of intestinal absorption. / text

Les polymères sensibles à des stimuli ont été largement étudiés ces dernières années notamment en vue d’applications biomédicales. Ceux-ci ont la capacité de changer leurs propriétés de solubilité face à des variations de pH ou de température. Le but de cette thèse concerne la synthèse et l’étude de nouveaux diblocs composés de deux copolymères aléatoires. Les polymères ont été obtenus par polymérisation radicalaire contrôlée du type RAFT (reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer). Les polymères à bloc sont formés de monomères de méthacrylates et/ou d’acrylamides dont les polymères sont reconnus comme thermosensibles et sensible au pH. Premièrement, les copolymères à bloc aléatoires du type AnBm-b-ApBq ont été synthétisés à partir de N-n-propylacrylamide (nPA) et de N-ethylacrylamide (EA), respectivement A et B, par polymérisation RAFT. La cinétique de copolymérisation des poly(nPAx-co-EA1-x)-block-poly(nPAy-co-EA1-y) et leur composition ont été étudiées afin de caractériser et évaluer les propriétés physico-chimiques des copolymères à bloc aléatoires avec un faible indice de polydispersité . Leurs caractères thermosensibles ont été étudiés en solution aqueuse par spectroscopie UV-Vis, turbidimétrie et analyse de la diffusion dynamique de la lumière (DLS). Les points de trouble (CP) observés des blocs individuels et des copolymères formés démontrent des phases de transitions bien définies lors de la chauffe. Un grand nombre de macromolécules naturels démontrent des réponses aux stimuli externes tels que le pH et la température. Aussi, un troisième monomère, 2-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DEAEMA), a été ajouté à la synthèse pour former des copolymères à bloc , sous la forme AnBm-b-ApCq , et qui offre une double réponse (pH et température), modulable en solution. Ce type de polymère, aux multiples stimuli, de la forme poly(nPAx-co-DEAEMA1-x)-block-poly(nPAy-co-EA1-y), a lui aussi été synthétisé par polymérisation RAFT. Les résultats indiquent des copolymères à bloc aléatoires aux propriétés physico-chimiques différentes des premiers diblocs, notamment leur solubilité face aux variations de pH et de température. Enfin, le changement d’hydrophobie des copolymères a été étudié en faisant varier la longueur des séquences des blocs. Il est reconnu que la longueur relative des blocs affecte les mécanismes d’agrégation d’un copolymère amphiphile. Ainsi avec différents stimuli de pH et/ou de température, les expériences effectuées sur des copolymères à blocaléatoires de différentes longueurs montrent des comportements d’agrégation intéressants, évoluant sous différentes formes micellaires, d’agrégats et de vésicules. / Stimuli-responsive polymers and their use in biomedical applications have been widely investigated in recent years. These polymers change their physical properties such as water-solubility, when subjected to certain stimuli, for example change in temperature or pH. The main purpose of this work is to study new diblock copolymers consisting of two random copolymers, i.e., diblock random copolymers. Polymers with well-defined structures and tunable properties have been made using reversible addition−fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization, one of the controlled radical polymerization techniques. The blocks are made of acrylamide- and/or methacrylate-based monomers, which commonly show thermo-responsiveness and hence, double stimuli-responsive behavior is shown. First, a diblock random copolymer in the form of AnBm-b-ApBq was synthesized with N-n-propylacrylamide (nPA) and N-ethylacrylamide (EA) as A and B using RAFT polymerization. Kinetic study of the copolymerization process confirmed the controlled character of the copolymerization. The diblock random copolymers with the compositions of poly(nPAx-co-EA1-x)-block-poly(nPAy-co-EA1-y) and low polydispersity were obtained. With UV-visible spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS) we investigate their thermoresponsive characteristics in aqueous solutions. Individual blocks showed tunable cloud points, and the diblock copolymer exhibited a well-separated two-step phase transition upon heating. Macromolecules in nature can often respond to a combination of external stimuli, most commonly temperature and pH, rather than a single stimulus. Therefore, a second type of diblock random copolymer in the form of AnBm-b-ApCq was synthesized by combining a pH- and temperature-responsive block with another, only temperature-responsive block, producing responsiveness to multiple stimuli. This polymer with the composition of poly(nPAx-co-DEAEMA1-x)-block-poly(nPAy-co-EA1-y) where DEAEMA stands for 2-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate with well-defined structure and tunable properties has also been made using sequential RAFT polymerization. The resulting diblock random copolymer changes its physico-chemical properties, such as water-solubility, in a quite controlled manner when subjected to the changes in temperature or pH. What happens when blocks of different lengths change their relative hydrophilicity? It is known that the relative length of the blocks in amphiphilic diblock copolymers affects the aggregation mechanism. We compared three diblock copolymers with different block and chain lengths in aqueous solution when they change their relative hydrophilicity due to the change in the external stimuli. The variation of the length and chemical composition of the blocks allows the tuning of the responsiveness of the block copolymers toward both pH and temperature and determines the formation of either micelles or vesicles during the aggregation.

With the emergence of novel and more effective drug therapies, increased importance is being placed upon the methods by which these drugs are being delivered to the body. In conventional drug delivery systems, there is very little control over the release of drug. The effective concentration at the target site can be achieved by intermittent administration of grossly excessive doses, which, often results in constantly, unpredictable variations in plasma concentrations, with the risk of reaching levels below or above the therapeutic range leading to marked side effects. A plethora of formulation strategies mainly based on polymeric/lipid nanoparticles, are described in literature. Even though these systems are therapeutically advantageous in comparison to conventional systems, they remain insensitive to the changing metabolic states of the body although the symptoms of most metabolic diseases follow a rhythmic pattern.A more appropriate and effective approach of managing some of these conditions lies in the chronotherapy. This approach allows for pulsed or self-regulated drug delivery which is adjusted to the staging of biological rhythms, since the onset of certain diseases exhibits strong circadian temporal dependence. In order to reach the objective of mimicking the biophysical and biochemical processes of pathological states, many innovations in material design for drug delivery systems (DDS) that are able to release the therapeutic payload-on-demand were done to release the therapeutic agent only when it is required, according to the physiological need. The development of multidisciplinary research teams has brought huge advantages in the design, fabrication and utilization of such smart systems, especially in the pharmaceutical field. Interestingly, numerous smart polymeric materials exhibit a response to a specific stimulus. A step further, the elaboration of purpose-built monomers can give rise to compounds with tunable sensitivities or multi-stimuli responsiveness. These smart polymers demonstrate an active responsiveness to environmental (or external) signals and change their physicochemical properties as designed (e.g. conformation, solubility, shape, charge or size). As far as the stimuli are concerned, they consist of physical (e.g. temperature, ultrasound, light, electricity, magnetic or mechanical stress), chemical (e.g. pH, ionic strength) and biological signals (e.g. enzymes, biomolecules). Due to the intrapersonal variabilities which may make internal stimuli hazardous, externally controlled systems rely on externally applied stimuli that are produced by stimuli-generating devices, which results in pulsed drug delivery. This type of delivery may be rapid and allows a transient release of a determined amount of drug within a short period of time immediately after a pre-determined off-release period. A novel strategy for the formation of multi-stimuli responsive materials endowed with pH, magnetic and light sensitivity was achieved. The approach relied on the incorporation of magnetic tetrahalogenoferrate(III) anions along a polymeric backbone based on poly(2-(N,N-dimethylamino) ethyl meth-acrylate) (PDMAEMA). Starting from the same PDMAEMA, quaternized pending amine groups with various halide derivatives gave rise to magnetic materials after anion metathesis. Measuring the magnetic susceptibility of these materials exhibited that the magnetic susceptibility increased as the substituted group size decreased (become smaller) which was apparently related to the steric hindrance around the ionic pendants. Additionally, a good correlation between the magnetic susceptibility and ferric content was found. Additional experimental and theoretical Raman analyses allowed the determination of the nature of the magnetic species constituting the materials. This strategy further offers the opportunity to tailor the magnetic response through partial ammonium salt formation. In order to merge the magnetic properties of ferric-based materials with another stimuli-responsive functionality, random copolymers containing DMAEMA (D) with diazobenzene (A) unit were prepared. So, three copolymers PDA were synthesized (with targeted D/A ratios 4/6 (PDA4), 6/4 (PDA6) and 8/2 (PDA8)). Meanwhile, different degrees of amine quaternization (10, 50 and 100 %) were applied, which led to the following polymeric salts PDAX/Y where X = 4, 6, 8 (referring to the percentage of the DMAEMA unit) and Y = 10, 50 and 100 (referring to the percentage of quaternized amine groups). Finally, the aforementioned materials were converted into magnetic polymers by anion exchange. As a result, magnetic responses correlated well with amount of iron oxide in these compounds and the amount of ionic pending groups along the backbone. Moreover, the remaining tertiary amines conferred pH sensitivity to the polymers whereas the diazobenzene units ensured light responsiveness through the well-established trans-to-cis isomerization.In order to functionalize these materials in the pharmaceutical field, an intelligent delivery system was prepared. Firstly, an attempt to formulate riboflavin-5’-phosphate sodium (RPS) loaded on PDA8 microspheres was made using double emulsion evaporation method. Meanwhile, prednisolone (PRD) microspheres were prepared using s/o/w emulsion technique. Subsequently, coating systems of cochineal red tablets were developed. These tablets were coated with polymer solution (using each of three types of copolymers: PDA8, PDA6, and PDA4) until the desired percentage of the coating was achieved (10, 15, and 20 % w/w). The cumulative release profiles of cochineal red tablets coated with PDA8, PDA6, and PDA4 showed a pH-sensitive release behavior. The release in the neutral media (pH ≈ 7.0) was very slow (less than 3 % after one hour). Then, after changing the pH to 1.2, an increase in the release of cochineal was observed. Furthermore, the cumulative release of cochineal red was at the highest value for the PDA8 and the lowest for PDA4 depending on the percentage of PDMAEMA moieties. Moreover, by increasing the percentage of the coating from (10, 15 to 20 % w/w), the cumulative release of cochineal decreased. Therefore, the copolymer PDAX can be used for controlling the release of drug by changing the pH value.Finally, the cochineal tablets coated with PDA6 (10 %) showed features of light sensitivity. The release of cochineal red from coated tablets was only due to the switching in the conformational trans/cis isomerization of azobenzene moieties upon irradiation, which was confirmed by comparing the release of coated tablets with uncoated tablets upon irradiation. / Doctorat en Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques (Pharmacie) / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished