Les travaux décrits dans ce mémoire sont consacrés à la synthèse et à la caractérisation physico-chimique de nouveaux assemblages supramoléculaires à base d'un polysaccharide d'origine naturelle, le hyaluronane (HA).<br />Les assemblages résultent du mélange de deux polymères complémentaires et plus précisément de l'établissement d'interactions multivalentes spécifiques entres des molécules hôtes, les $\beta$-cyclodextrines ($\beta$-CD) et des molécules invitées, des groupements hydrophobes d'adamantane (AD), greffés sur les chaînes de HA.<br />Afin d'évaluer l'influence de l'énergie de jonction sur la stabilité des réseaux, deux systèmes de structure différente ont été préparés. Les assemblages sont stabilisés soit, par la formation de complexes d'inclusion simples $\beta$-CD/AD, soit par des paires de complexes d'inclusion.<br />Des expériences de titration calorimétrique ont permis une analyse détaillée des propriétés d'inclusion des molécules et des macromolécules hôtes et invitées. Le comportement en milieu aqueux des polymères modifiés seuls et les propriétés viscoélastiques des mélanges ont été étudiés par des mesures rhéologiques en écoulement et en régime dynamique.<br />Ces assemblages sont sensibles à la variation de paramètres externes tels que la force ionique, la concentration en polymères, la température et l'ajout de molécules hôtes compétitives. Ce sont des réseaux temporaires dont la dynamique est gouvernée principalement par le nombre et la vitesse d'échange des complexes d'inclusion efficaces et par la mobilité des chaînes de HA.

Dans ce travail, nous nous sommes intéressés à la synthèse de nouveaux hydrogels, obtenus en réticulant chimiquement, par une réaction thiol-ène, des polyélectrolytes (PAA) modifiés par des groupes alkyle greffés le long de la chaîne. L'hydrogel ainsi formé est donc composé d'un réseau à la fois physique, du à l'agrégation des groupements hydrophobes en micelles, et chimique. Par comparaison avec un hydrogel de PAA « modèle » (non hydrophobe), nous étudions les phénomènes dissipatifs que le réseau transitoire peut induire, en nous intéressant plus spécialement aux grandes déformations, par le biais d'expériences de compression uniaxiale. Dans le domaine d'élasticité linéaire, nous avons identifié une forte composante viscoélastique due aux agrégats hydrophobes, ceux-ci n'affectant cependant pas le module élastique du gel, comparativement au gel non modifié. Les expériences aux grandes déformations ont mis en évidence un mécanisme supplémentaire d'agrégation causé par des interactions électrostatiques attractives entre chaînes de PAA. Ce phénomène, induit par la déformation, est fortement couplé à la dissipation d'énergie causée par les réorganisations des agrégats hydrophobes soumis à la contrainte. Les agrégats hydrophobes améliorent de façon non négligeable la résistance à la rupture du réseau comparativement aux gels non modifiés. Des résultats préliminaires de fracture sont également présentés.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are commonly used in the treatment of blood cancers, like leukemia, and other cancers where radiation or chemotherapy damages the native HSC population. The development of a novel system to study and maintain HSCs ex vivo would give researchers and clinicians the ability to investigate the basic biological processes of HSCs, improve current treatment regimens, and explore their use in new therapies. The work in this thesis focuses on the development of a synthetic PEG hydrogel scaffold that accurately mimics aspects of the HSC microenvironment and can expand clinically relevant HSC populations. PEG hydrogel well surfaces were covalently functionalized with bioactive factors known to be critical in controlling HSC fate in vivo. In initial studies, 32D cells, a myeloid progenitor, were cultured in the wells for 6 days. On surfaces with the adhesive RGDS peptide sequence, 32D cell adhesion increased concurrently with RGDS surface concentrations. With the immobilization of two niche cytokines, SCF and SDF1α, onto hydrogel surfaces, 32D cells demonstrated significant increases in adhesion and spreading. These results confirmed that hematopoietic cell behavior could be controlled through the design of the bioactive PEG scaffold. In studies with a primary hematopoietic cell population (c-kit + , lin - ), the effects of bioactive molecules on cell expansion and differentiation were investigated after 2 weeks in culture. The adhesive peptides sequences, RGDS and CS1, and four niche proteins, SCF, SDF1α, JAG1, and IFNγ, were covalently tethered to hydrogel well surfaces. Primary cells proliferated significantly on gels containing SCF and IFNγ though only SCF was capable of preventing HSC differentiation. Cells cultured on surfaces functionalized with JAG1 and SDF1α did not proliferate extensively, but they were able to maintain primitive HSC populations. Primary c-kit + cells were also encapsulated within biodegradable PEG hydrogels and cultured for 2-5 weeks. Cells remained viable for 5 weeks in culture, and preliminary results indicated minimal cell differentiation. In this work, biomimetic PEG hydrogels were successfully employed to expand HSC populations in both two and three dimensions. The ability to generate large populations of primitive HSCs ex vivo has broad clinical and research implications.

The growing incidences of coronary artery bypass graft surgeries have triggered a need to engineer a viable small diameter blood vessel substitute. An ideal tissue engineered vascular graft should mimic the microenvironment of a native blood vessel, while providing the adequate compliance post-implantation. Current vascular graft technologies lack the ability to promote vascular ECM deposition, leading to a compliance mismatch and ultimately, graft failure. Hence, in order to engineer suitable vascular grafts, this thesis describes the synthesis and characterization of novel elastin mimetic peptides, EM-19 and EM-23, capable of promoting vascular ECM deposition within a poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEG-DA) hydrogel. By combining the material properties of a synthetic and bio-inspired polymer, a suitable microenvironment for cell growth and ECM deposition can be engineered, leading to improved compliance. As such, characterization of EM-19 and EM-23 was conducted in human vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) cultures, and the peptides self-assembled with a growing elastic matrix. After grafting the peptides onto the surface of PEG-DA hydrogels, EM-23 increased SMC adhesion by 6000% over PEG-RGDS hydrogels, which have been the gold standard of cell adhesive PEG scaffolds. Moreover, EM-23 grafted surfaces were able to promote elastin deposition that was comparable to tissue cultured polystyrene (TCPS) surface even though TCPS had roughly 4.5 times more SMCs adhered. Once translated to a 3D model, EM-23 also stimulated increased elastin deposition and improved the mechanical strength of the scaffold over time. Moreover, degradation studies suggested that EM-23 may serve as a template that not only promotes ECM deposition, but also allows ECM remodeling over time. The characterization studies in this thesis suggest that this peptide is an extremely promising candidate for improving vascular ECM deposition within a synthetic substrate, and that it may be beneficial to incorporate EM-23 within polymeric scaffolds to engineer compliant vascular grafts.

Ce travail a pour objet l'obtention et la caractérisation de nouveaux copolymères amphiphiles et d'hydrogels à hydrophilie contrôlée, à partir de polymères naturels, avec comme utilisations potentielles la vectorisation de principes actifs. En conséquence, il est donc nécessaire que les polymères utilisés pour l'obtention de ces architectures répondent à un certain nombre de contraintes, notamment être non-toxiques, biocompatibles et biodégradables. Pour ces raisons, on retient le plus souvent comme matériaux de départ des polymères naturels, en particulier les polysaccharides. Quelques polymères synthétiques répondent aussi à ces contraintes, telle que la polycaprolactone. Ainsi, le matériau de base utilisé dans ce travail est l'amidon sur lequel a été greffé soit la poly (ε-caprolactone), soit une chaîne grasse. La thèse est structurée en cinq chapitres consacrés d'une part au greffage de structures hydrophobes sur l'amidon et la formation d'hydrogels à hydrophobie modulable, d'autre part à la vectorisation de la lévofloxacine par ces composés. La première partie traite du greffage de la polycaprolactone sur l'amidon par "click chemistry" (CuAAC) entre l'amidon fonctionnalisé par des fonctions alcynes et des polycaprolactones à fonction azoture en bout de chaîne, ces dernières étant préalablement obtenues par POC de la caprolactone. Les réactions de CuAAC ont été effectuées non seulement selon les protocoles habituels, mais aussi par micro ondes. Par ailleurs, l'amidon a aussi été hydrophobisé par les méthodes usuelles d'estérification par une chaîne grasse via le chlorure de l'acide palmitoique. Les produits ainsi obtenus ont été caractérisés par RMN, IR, XPS et leur comportement dans différents solvants (solubilité, gonflement) a été étudié. Une seconde partie est consacrée à l'élaboration d'hydrogels à base d'amidon et d'amidon modifié avec des chaînes d'acides gras et de PCL par réticulation avec l'acide citrique. Afin d'atteindre les objectifs, une stratégie multifactorielle expérimentale avec deux variables indépendantes a été utilisée. La modélisation mathématique des données expérimentales permet de remonter aux paramètres physico-chimiques pertinents, montre les effets de synergie et établit les conditions d'optimisation. Une dernière partie a permis d'évaluer les cinétiques de libération de la lévofloxacine, un antibiotique de dernière génération, par les hydrogels obtenus. Les matériaux obtenus ont montré des propriétés de libération contrôlée potentiellement intéressantes. Les résultats obtenus au cours de cette thèse ont été évalués par la publication de trois articles et par dissémination des résultats au six conférences internationales.

The expanding field of tissue engineering provides a new approach to regenerative medicine for common ailments such as cardiovascular disease and type-I diabetes. Biomaterials can be administered as a delivery vehicle to introduce therapeutic cells to sites of damaged or diseased tissue. A specific class of biomaterials, termed hydrogels, is suitable for this application as they can provide a biocompatible, biodegradable scaffold that mimics the physical properties of the native soft tissue. Injectable hydrogels are increasingly being developed for biomedical applications due to their ability to be delivered in a minimally invasive manner. One potential use for such materials is in the delivery of therapeutics such as cells or growth factor-releasing particles. In this study, the first aim was to determine the interactive effects between collagen-based hydrogels and additives (cells and microspheres) for cardiac regeneration. The results demonstrated that the addition of either cells or microspheres to a collagen-based hydrogel decreased its gelation time and increased its viscosity. Increased cross-linker concentrations resulted in lower cell viability. However, this cell loss could be minimized by delivering cells with the cross-linker neutralizing agent, glycine. As a potential application of these materials, the second aim of this study was to develop a hydrogel for use as an ectopic islet transplant site. Specifically, collagen-chitosan hydrogels were synthesized and characterized, with and without laminin, and tested for their ability to support angiogenic and islet cell survival and function. Matrices synthesized with lower chitosan content (20:1 collagen:chitosan) displayed greater cell compatibility for both angiogenic cells and for islets and weaker mechanical properties, while matrices with higher chitosan content (10:1 collagen:chitosan) had the opposite effect. Laminin did not affect the physical properties of the matrices, but did improve angiogenic cell and islet survival and function. Overall the proposed collagen-based hydrogels can be tailored to meet the physical property requirements for cardiac and islet tissue engineering applications and demonstrated promising cell support capabilities.

Ce travail avait pour but de développer un nouveau type de matériaux basés sur des complexes polyelectrolytes. Ces matériaux ont été obtenus par l'ultracentrifugation des complexes soit d'origine naturelle ou soit d'origine synthétique. Le système de polyélectrolytes ainsi que les conditions dans lesquelles ces matériaux peuvent être obtenus, suivi par le choix du système optimal pour des études complémentaires ont été décrits. PAA / PAH CoPECs a été choisi comme systèmes modèles de synthèse et ses propriétés physico chimiques (composition, structure et les propriétés mécaniques) ont été décrits ici en détails. Nous avons montré que les propriétés de la composition, la structure et mécanique de le PAA/PAH CoPECs peut être contrôlée en modifiant les conditions d'assemblage (pH, concentration des polyélectrolytes, [NaCl], la vitesse et la commande de l'addition). Également, les conditions environnementales ([NaCl] et pH) ont également été utilisés pour contrôler la taille des pores et porosité des PAA/PAH CoPECs . Enfin, leur capacité à servir de support pour l'immobilisation d'enzymes a également été étudiée. Nous avons optimise les conditions d'assemblage afin de maintenir le maximum quantité de l'enzyme dans le complexe. Nous avons également démontré que CoPECs fournit la stabilisation à long terme, ainsi que la protection de l'enzyme à des températures élevées. Ainsi, PAA / PAH CoPECs sont des candidats potentiels pour être utilisé comme des supports pour l'ingénierie tissulaire et pour l'immobilisation d'enzymes.

Three-dimensional (3D) tissue models have significantly improved our understanding of structure/function relationships and promise to lead to new advances in regenerative medicine. However, despite the expanding diversity of 3D tissue fabrication methods, in vitro approaches for functional assessments have been relatively limited. Herein, we describe the guidance of primary endothelial cells (ECs) in an agarose hydrogel scaffold that is chemically patterned with an immobilized concentration gradient of vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF165) using multiphoton laser patterning of VEGF165. This is the first demonstration of this patterning technology to immobilize proteins; and the first demonstration of immobilized VEGF165 to guide endothelial cell growth and differentiation in 3D environments. It is particularly compelling that this 3D hydrogels provide an excellent biomimetic environment for stem cell niche, thereby offering a new approach to study stem cell biology. In this thesis, we focused on the retinal stem cell niche, investigating cellular interactions between retinal stem and progenitor cells (RSPCs) and endothelial cells (ECs). By using this 3D in vitro model, we demonstrated the synergistic interactions between RSPCs and ECs wherein RSPCs migrated into 3D gels only in the presence of ECs and RSPCs stabilized EC tubular-like formations. Moreover, we characterized the contact-mediated effects of ECs on RSPC fate in terms of proliferation and differentiation.

Three-dimensional (3D) tissue models have significantly improved our understanding of structure/function relationships and promise to lead to new advances in regenerative medicine. However, despite the expanding diversity of 3D tissue fabrication methods, in vitro approaches for functional assessments have been relatively limited. Herein, we describe the guidance of primary endothelial cells (ECs) in an agarose hydrogel scaffold that is chemically patterned with an immobilized concentration gradient of vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF165) using multiphoton laser patterning of VEGF165. This is the first demonstration of this patterning technology to immobilize proteins; and the first demonstration of immobilized VEGF165 to guide endothelial cell growth and differentiation in 3D environments. It is particularly compelling that this 3D hydrogels provide an excellent biomimetic environment for stem cell niche, thereby offering a new approach to study stem cell biology. In this thesis, we focused on the retinal stem cell niche, investigating cellular interactions between retinal stem and progenitor cells (RSPCs) and endothelial cells (ECs). By using this 3D in vitro model, we demonstrated the synergistic interactions between RSPCs and ECs wherein RSPCs migrated into 3D gels only in the presence of ECs and RSPCs stabilized EC tubular-like formations. Moreover, we characterized the contact-mediated effects of ECs on RSPC fate in terms of proliferation and differentiation.

We have used a molecular modeling of both random and blocky sequence hydrogel networks of poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (P(VP-co-HEMA)) with a composition of VP:HEMA = 37:13 to investigate the effect of the monomeric sequence and the water content on the equilibrium structures and the mechanical and transport properties by full-atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The degree of randomness of the monomer sequence for the random and the blocky copolymers, were 1.170 and 0.104, respectively, and the degree of polymerization was fixed at 50. The equilibrated density of the hydrogel was found to be larger for the random sequence than for the blocky sequence at low water contents (< 40 wt %), but this density difference decreased with increasing water content. The pair correlation function analysis shows that VP is more hydrophilic than HEMA and that the random sequence hydrogel is solvated more than the blocky sequence hydrogel at low water content, which disappears with increasing water content. Correspondingly, the water structure is more disrupted by the random sequence hydrogel at low water content but eventually develops the expected bulk-water-like structure with increasing water content. From mechanical deformation simulations, the stress-strain analysis showed that the VP is found to relax more efficiently, especially in the blocky sequence, so that the blocky sequence hydrogel shows less stress levels compared to the random sequence hydrogel. As the water content increases, the stress level becomes identical for both sequences. The elastic moduli of the hydrogels calculated from the constant strain energy minimization show the same trend with the stress-strain analysis. Ascorbic acid and D-glucose were used to study the effect of the monomeric sequence on the diffusion of small guest molecules within the hydrogels. By analyzing the pair correlation functions, it was found that the guest molecule has greater accessibility to the VP units than to the HEMA units with both monomeric sequences due to its higher hydrophilicity compared to the HEMA units. The monomeric sequence effect on the P(VP-co-HEMA) hydrogel is clearly observed with 20 wt % water content, but the monomeric sequence effect is significantly reduced with 40 wt % water content and disappears with 80 wt % water content. This is because the hydrophilic guest molecules are more likely to be associated with water molecules than with the polymer network at the high water content. By analyzing the mean square displacement, the displacement of the guest molecules and the inner surface area, it is also found that the guest molecule is confined in the system at 20 wt % water content, resulting in highly anomalous subdiffusion. Therefore, the diffusion of the guest molecules is directly affected by their interaction with the monomer units, the monomeric sequence and the geometrical confinement in the hydrogel at a low water content, but the monomeric sequence effect and the restriction on the diffusion of the guest molecule are significantly decreased with increasing the water content. We also investigated the de-swelling mechanisms of the surface-grafted poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (P(NIPAAm)) brushes containing 1300 water molecules at 275 K, 290 K, 320 K, 345 K, and 370 K. We clearly observed the de-swelling of the water molecules for P(NIPAAm) above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) (~305 K). Below the LCST, we did not observe the de-swelling of water molecules. Using the upper critical solution temperature (UCST) systems (poly(acrylamide) brushes) for comparison purposes, we did not observe the de-swelling of water molecules at a given range of temperatures. By analyzing the pair correlation functions and the coordination numbers, the de-swelling of the water molecules occurred distinctly around the isopropyl group of the P(NIPAAm) brush above the LCST because C(NIPAAm) does not offer sufficient interaction with the water molecules via the hydrogen bonding type of secondary interaction. We also found that the contribution of the N(NIPAAm)-O(water) pair is quite small because of the steric hindrance of the isopropyl group. By analyzing the change in the hydrogen bonds, the hydrogen bonds between polar groups and water molecules in the P(NIPAAm) brushes weaken with increasing temperature, which leads to the de-swelling of the water molecules out of the brushes above the LCST. Below the LCST, the change in the hydrogen bonds is not significant. Again, the contribution of the NH(NIPAAm)-water pairs is insignificant; the total number of hydrogen bonds is ~20, indicating that the interaction between the NH group and the water molecules is not significant due to steric hindrances. Lastly, we observed that the total surface area of the P(NIPAAm) brushes that is accessible to water molecules is decreased by collapsing the brushes followed by the de-swelling of water molecules above the LCST.