This thesis describes syntheses and characterization of star-like amphiphilic block copolymers consisting of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as the hydrophilic block,polycarbonate as the hydrophobic block and an amine-containing dendrimer as the core molecule. The macromolecules were synthesized by either a convergent or adivergent approach that includes tandem click reactions and ring opening polymerizations (ROP) of methyl trimethyl carbonates (MTC) with differentfunctionalities. The ROP of MTC monomers was performed using organocatalysts that allow mild reaction condition and reasonable molecular weight distribution(PDI~1.3). These synthetic approaches provide the resultant polymers with three different conformations, which are; mikto-arm type, comb-block with short PEGbrushes, and linear block with long PEG chain. The star-like polymers that were synthesized were all water soluble and most of them formed nano aggregates inwater. Different morphologies were observed in AFM study depending on the polymer conformation. Interestingly, some of them had indications pointing towards alower critical solution temperature.

Abstract This thesis conducts a comprehensive investigation of the of the physical chemistry related to the TEOS-based porous materials prepared by so-gel approach and develops the fast qualification technology for the hydrolysis and condensation reaction of sol-gel process. The porous materials were prepared by introducing a polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) into sol-gel after different aging times and with different drying and annealing processes. The effects of pH and addition of PEG on sol-gel derived SiO2 powders for purification of ethanol are studied. The methods and results of this work provide valuable reference for the development of other functional materials such as low k dielectric materials. In the first part, the long-term behavior of the hydrolysis and condensation reaction of the tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) pre-solution at different pH values with and without addition of polyethyleneglycol (PEG) for various aging times was characterized by liquid 1H, 13C, and 29Si NMR spectroscopy.The experimental results demonstrate that alcohol was generated in the TEOS pre-solutions with and without addition of PEG at pH 3 and pH 9 after aging, implying the occurrence of hydrolysis and condensation. The rate of hydrolysis and condensation for the TEOS pre-solution at pH 3 was found to follow the trend of the pre-solution with PEG 2000 > pre-solution with PEG 200 > pre-solution without PEG. However, after adding PEG, the oxygen atom of the deprotonated silanol group (siloxy) of the hydrolyzed TEOS pre-solution at pH3 acted as a reaction center. The result indicates that the oxygen atom is more susceptible to electrophilic attack, resulting in an increased reaction rate. Consequently, the rate of hydrolysis and condensation for of the TEOS pre-solution at pH 9 follows a different order: pre-solution with PEG 200 > pre-solution without PEG > presolution with PEG 2000. The slowest reaction rate of the TEOS pre-solution when adding PEG 2000 is related to the tangled chains of PEG 2000 which sterically reduces the hydrolysis and condensation reaction. This work shows that the correlation between the pH and aging time on hydrolysis and condensation reaction of the TEOS pre-solution can be effectively monitored by liquid 1H NMR spectroscopy, supported by 13C and 29Si liquid NMR spectra. The data obtained should assist optimizing the pH, polymer type/size/concentration and the aging time in the preparation of polymer modified TEOS sols In the second part, SiO2 powders were prepared by the sol-gel in combination with oven-drying method before and after annealing.The experimental result demonstrates the rate of hydrolysis and condensation occurs at a fast rate in TEOS with and without adding PEG at pH3 than in any other pH levels. Because free space can lead to the vaporization of H2O, the ionization of ammonia decreases (i.e., reduction the amount of hydroxide ion), which arises from the rate of hydrolysis and condensation decreases when TEOS at pH9. After attaching PEG, the oxygen atom of the deprotonated silanol group (siloxy) for of the hydrolyzed TEOS pre-solution at pH 3 acted as a reaction center. The result indicates the oxygen atom is more susceptible to electrophilic attack, resulting in an increased reaction rate. Thus, a maximum in the powder yield is reached for TEOS pre-solution with and without adding PEG at pH 3. The SiO2 powder with adding PEG of higher molecular weight presents higher adsorption capacities, pertaining to a greater amount of hydrophilic hydroxyl groups of PEG with higher molecular weight. After annealing, the surface area of SiO2 powder prepared from the TEOS pre-solutions increases as compared with powder without adding PEG and enhances the adsorption of water. A potential absorbent SiO2 powders for producing purified ethanol suitable for fuel and industrial use, can be fabricated by using sol-gel route by careful selection of pH and PEG molecular weight. In addition, during the preparation and characterization of these materials, some interesting phenomena were observed, which are academically valuable. For instance, some samples show very narrow 1H MAS spectra and yet has high 1H-29Si CPMAS sensitivety. This phenomenon suggests us that CPMAS sensitivety may be improved by a new route, i.e., by properly preparing the sample so that CP efficiency is enhanced.

名古屋大学博士学位論文 学位の種類:博士(リハビリテーション療法学) (課程) 学位授与年月日:平成23年3月25日

While a number of PEGylated proteins have been studied for injectable applications and reviewers have used this data to speculate possible oral delivery improvements, a detailed investigation of PEGylated insulin for oral delivery and the development of an optimized pH-sensitive carrier for PEGylated insulin conjugates had yet to be accomplished. In order to proceed with oral delivery study, improvements in yield, with respect to previous PEGylation methods were necessary to enable the completion of high throughput drug delivery studies. Subsequently, a reaction scheme for the covalent attachment of PEG to insulin using nitrophenyl carbonate-PEG was developed. It was demonstrated that this reaction occurred at a 1:1 ratio and was site specific at the B29Lys position. A P(MAA-g-EG) hydrogel carrier was developed to optimize loading and release behavior for PEGylated insulin. It was demonstrated that the density and length of polymer grafts affected both loading and release behavior of PEGylated insulin. The best performing grafted polymers had a 3:1 methacrylic acid: ethylene glycol (MAA:EG) ratio and achieved loading efficiencies from 96% to nearly 100%. With respect to release, polymer particles containing fewer, but longer grafts shown to release faster than polymers with shorter grafts with the same MAA:EG ratio. Finally, the effects of PEGylation on intestinal absorption was investigated using an intestinal epithelial model as well as a rat model. It was demonstrated that PEGylated insulin in the presence of P(MAA-g-EG) microparticles did not significantly alter the tight junctions over unmodified insulin. However, the conjugate permeabilities across the membrane were reduced. The pharmacological availability (PA) was then verified by injecting the insulin conjugates subcutaneously in fasted Sprague-Dawley rats. It was determined that PEG 1000 insulin (1KPI) had a PA roughly equivalent to insulin, while it was reduced by 59% for 2KPI and by 81% for 5KPI. The effectiveness of utilizing PEGylated insulin as an oral drug delivery candidate was evaluated with a closed loop intestinal study, in which PEGylated insulin or insulin in solution was delivered directly to the jejunum. It was shown that 1KPI and insulin performed identically; with a pharmacological availability of 0.56%. 2KPI, however improved the pharmacological availability of insulin by 2.8 times. These results demonstrate that PEGylation holds promise for improving the oral delivery of proteins. / text

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury causes extensive damage to skeletal muscle, often resulting in prolonged functional deficits. This current study determines the efficacy of controlled release of SDF-1α and IGF-1 by conjugation to biodegradable, polyethylene glycol, (PEG)ylated fibrin gel matrix in skeletal muscle repair of an I/R injury. Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent a 2-hour tourniquet induced I/R injury on their hind limbs. Twenty-four hours post injury the following treatments were administered: PEGylated fibrin gel (PEG-Fib), SDF-1 conjugated PEGylated fibrin gel (PEG-Fib/SDF-1), or dual protein IGF-1 and SDF-1 conjugated PEGylated fibrin gel (PEG-Fibrin/SDF-1/IGF-1. Following 14 days after injury, functional and histological evaluations were performed. There was no significant difference in maximum tetanic force production recovery between PEG-Fib and PEG-Fib/SDF-1 groups. However, PEG-Fib/SDF-1/IGF-1 group resulted in significant improvement of force production relative to the other treatment groups. The same results were found for specific tension. Histological analysis revealed a greater distribution of small myofibers in the PEG-Fib/SDF-1 group than the PEG-Fib group, while the PEG-Fib/SDF-1/IGF-1 group had the smallest distribution of small fibers and similar to controls (uninjured). There were also a greater number of centrally located nuclei in the PEG-Fib/SDF-1 group than the PEG-Fib group, while the PEG-Fib/SDF-1/IGF-1 group had similar values to controls. Although these results confirm the protective role of exogenous IGF-1, SDF-1 did not have an effect on skeletal muscle repair. / text

I developed a system to release multiple growth factors from PEGylated fibrin gels with varying profiles to induce vasculogenesis from embedded human MSCs. Zero-order release can be obtained by conjugating a growth factor with a homobifunctional, amine-reactive, PEG derivative. Growth factors can be entrapped during thrombin-mediated crosslinking and released rapidly. Growth factors with physical affinity for fibrinogen or fibrin can be sequestered within the matrix and released via degradation and/or disassociation. PDGF-BB was loaded via entrapment while TGF-β1 was sequestered through a combination of physical affinity and conjugation. The affinity of TGF-β1 and fibrinogen had never been previously examined or quantified. I aimed to determine the Ka and Kd between TGF-β1 and fibrinogen through a variety of assays. Binding ELISAs were developed for TGF-β1 and fibronectin, a protein associated with fibrin gels, and TGF-β1 and fibrinogen. However, background was high due to insufficient blocking agents. Other assays explored included western blots, surface plasmon resonance, and radiolabeled TGF-β1 with limited success. The affect of TGF-β1 on human MSC differentiation towards vascular cell phenotypes was examined both in 2D and fibrin gels embedded with MSCs. With exposure to TGF-β1, MSC proliferation was significantly inhibited in both 2D and within fibrin gels indicating that loaded TGF-β1 maintained bioactivity for at least 7 days. Gene expression of MSCs exposed to TGF-β1 demonstrated inhibited endothelial cell differentiation and stimulated smooth muscle cell differentiation. However, confocal and light microscopy indicated that endothelial cell differentiation is maintained with TGF-β1 loaded PEGylated fibrin gels. The system developed is highly modular and can be applied to other tissue engineering systems. Furthermore, other growth factors could be incorporated to promote vascular cell differentiation. / text

A predictive validity approach has been employed to find some implications to support evidences for Automated Essay Scoring (AES) systems. First, using R² values from multiple linear regression models, validity indices are compared first between multiple choice scores and essay scores across four AES systems. Secondly, R² values from models using only essay scores, the validity indices of four AES systems are hypothetically compared to see if how well AES systems could predict student outcome such as GPA. / text

Depuis plusieurs ann??es, une attention toute particuli??re a ??t?? port??e ?? la conception de biocapteurs. Divers types ont ??t?? d??velopp??s (ex. optiques, ??lectriques) et ont men?? ?? une multitude d???applications. On en retrouve d??sormais dans des champs d???applications aussi vari??s que la d??tection d???explosifs et de toxines, la s??curit?? alimentaire, la d??tection et le dosage de polluants environnementaux ou la sant??. Le d??veloppement de telles technologies se base sur l???union de deux domaines scientifiques tr??s diff??rents. D???un c??t??, la partie ?? capteur ?? est con??ue en utilisant des m??thodes de microfabrication. Ces derni??res font appel ?? l???emploi de compos??s inorganiques (ex. m??taux, mat??riaux semi-conducteurs, verre et autres). De l???autre c??t??, on retrouve un assemblage de mol??cules organiques, prot??ines, enzymes ou r??cepteurs issus du domaine biologique. L???un des grands d??fis est d???unir la portion biologique au capteur (c.-??-d. substrat) sans alt??rer les propri??t??s de ces deux composants. Plusieurs m??thodes sont envisageables pour arriver ?? coupler le mat??riel biologique au substrat. L???objectif de la recherche de cette th??se est d?????tudier la liaison de mol??cules sur un substrat et de cr??er un syst??me biologique servant comme syst??me de d??tection pour un biocapteur. Le mod??le choisi pour ??tablir le concept de base est l???affinit?? variable entre l???avidine et la 2-iminobiotine. Il est connu que l???affinit?? de l???avidine ?? l???iminobiotine peut ??tre modifi??e en changeant les conditions de pH. La liaison form??e en milieu basique sera affaiblie en milieu acide menant ?? la s??paration de la prot??ine et du ligand. Contrairement ?? l???iminobiotine, la biotine poss??de un lien fort et stable avec l???avidine impossible ?? briser dans des conditions non d??naturantes. L???avidine ??tant une prot??ine t??tram??rique, quatre ligands peuvent s???y lier. On profite donc de cette propri??t?? pour lier l???avidine ?? un bras polym??rique, une chaine de poly??thyl??ne glycol (PEG) comprenant une biotine, lui-m??me attach?? ?? la surface. Ce bras, maintenant fonctionnalis??, devra permettre de garder pr??s de la surface une avidine, lui permettant de se lier ?? des iminobiotine aussi attach??es en surface ou s???en d??lier selon les conditions de pH. La premi??re partie de cette th??se est consacr??e ?? la fonctionnalisation des surfaces. La premi??re ??tape de la construction a ??t?? de faire un attachement pour cr??er une couche de mol??cules qui serviront de support et d???ancrage au m??canisme mol??culaire du biocapteur. L???attachement de mol??cules ??tant r??alisable sur les surfaces d??sign??es, une construction a ??t?? test??e. La strat??gie propos??e consistait en l???utilisation d???une mol??cule bifonctionnelle en forme de ?? Y ??. Cette mol??cule a ??t?? synth??tis??e sp??cifiquement pour l???attachement en deux ??tapes successives des deux composantes du syst??me mol??culaire modulable en pH. Sur la premi??re branche se trouve une iminobiotine. La seconde a ??t?? pr??vue afin d???y attacher le bras polym??rique. Cette construction a ??t?? faite et test??e par SPR. Enfin, une seconde strat??gie de construction a ??t?? ??tudi??e. Celle-ci impliquait l???utilisation d???une prot??ine (albumine de s??rum bovin, BSA) modifi??e comme base de la construction. Une premi??re BSA a ??t?? modifi??e avec de l???iminobiotine tandis qu???une seconde avec le PEG. Ces deux prot??ines modifi??es ont ??t?? mises ensemble en solution et d??pos??es sur un substrat SPR. Elles constituent ensemble les deux morceaux du syst??me pr??c??demment mentionn??. L???objectif de cette strat??gie ??tait de contr??ler la quantit?? relative des esp??ces n??cessaires en surface de fa??on ?? obtenir un signal SPR optimal. De plus, la pr??sence de ces prot??ines en surface devait bloquer l???adsorption non sp??cifique sur cette derni??re d???esp??ces non d??sir??es.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-04-04Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:23:05Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 mainardes_rm_dr_arafcf.pdf: 1864850 bytes, checksum: f49ab7e28e985faad2f32205305f0de3 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) / A zidovudina (AZT) é um fármaco amplamente usado no tratamento da síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida. O AZT apresenta baixa biodisponibilidade oral pois sofre rápido e extenso metabolismo de primeira passagem hepática, além de curto t1/2. Sendo assim, altas e freqüentes doses são requeridas para se manter concentrações plasmáticas efetivas e, dessa maneira, apresenta graves efeitos colaterais, dose-dependentes, que limitam o seu uso em determinados tipos de pacientes. As nanopartículas são eficientes sistemas poliméricos que contribuem para a redução da toxicidade de fármacos, pois são capazes de liberá-los de maneira prolongada, proporcionando maior tempo de contato do fármaco com o plasma e tecidos. A via de administração intranasal é uma rota interessante, quando se deseja evitar o metabolismo de primeira passagem e, também, pode oferecer um ótimo perfil de absorção para nanopartículas. Neste trabalho, estudouse a incorporação de AZT em nanopartículas de PLA e de blendas de PLA-PEG com diferentes razões molares. A caracterização físico-química demonstrou que a presença do PEG influenciou a forma, o diâmetro médio, a eficiência de encapsulação, assim como o potencial de superfície das partículas. O diâmetro médio e a eficiência de encapsulação das nanopartículas aumentaram com o aumento crescente da razão molar de PEG na blenda. A forma geral e a apresentação das partículas variaram em função da concentração de PEG, sendo que os melhores resultados foram obtidos com as menores razões molares deste na blenda. Os experimentos de liberação in vitro mostraram que a liberação do AZT a partir das nanopartículas foi mais lenta em relação ao AZT em solução. A presença do PEG nas nanopartículas alterou o perfil de liberação do AZT, tornando... / Zidovudine (AZT) is a drug widely used in the treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. AZT shows low bioavailability because it suffers fast and extensive by pass hepatic metabolism, besides of low t1/2. High and frequent doses are requested to achieve effective plasmatic concentrations, and thus, it shows serious and dosedependents side effects that limit its use in certain kind of patients. Nanoparticles are efficient polymeric systems that contributes to reduce the drug toxicity, because maintain prolonged drug release, making longer the contact between drug and plasma/tissues. The intranasal way is a very interesting route to avoid the by pass metabolism, and also offers a great absorption profile to nanoparticles. In the present work, the AZT encapsulation in PLA e PLA-PEG blends nanoparticles was studied. The physico-chemical characterization showed that the presence of PEG influences the nanoparticles shape, mean diameter, encapsulation efficiency and superficial charge. The mean diameter and encapsulation efficiency increase with increasing PEG proportion in the blend. The nanoparticles shape varied in function of PEG concentration, the better results being obtained with the lowest PEG concentration. In vitro experiments showed that AZT release from nanoparticles was slower than that of AZT solution. The presence of PEG in nanoparticles altered the AZT release profile, making it faster than that from PLA nanoparticles. The ex vivo phagocytosis experiments demonstrated that PLA-PEG blends nanoparticles were more efficient in avoiding the activation of phagocytic cells. The intranasal bioavailability in rats shows that blend PLA-PEG nanoparticles demonstrated longer plasmatic circulating times than that those make of PLA alone. These results demonstrate that PLA and PLA-PEG blends nanoparticles can be used as an efficient intranasal drug delivery system.

abstract: Silicone compounds have a very low surface energy due to highly flexible Si-O-Si backbone and large number of –CH3 groups, but these compounds are extremely hydrophobic and thus have limited applications in aqueous formulations. Modification of such silicone compounds by grafting hydrophilic chains provides a wide range of silicone products called "Silicone Surfactants". Silicone surfactants are surface active agents which get adsorbed at the air-water interface thereby, reducing the interfacial tension. Some of the larger applications of silicone surfactant are in the manufacture of plastic foams, in personal care products and as spreading and wetting agents (Hill, R.M, 2002). In this thesis, a series of silicone surfactant graft copolymers were synthesized via hydrosilylation reaction. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) of different chain length was grafted to a hydrophobic Poly(methylhydrosiloxane) (PMHS) backbone to improve the final hydrophilicity. Also, a positively charged quaternary ammonium salt (allyltriethylammonium bromide) was grafted to the PMHS backbone. The objective of this thesis was to synthesize polymers in predefined ratios of the above mentioned side groups and utilize these polymers to- 1) Study the effect of PEG chain length and its composition on the hydrophilicity of the polymer. 2) Study the effect of PEG: ammonium salt ratio on the surface tension of aqueous systems. Analysis of FT-IR and 1H NMR spectra of the polymers confirmed the predicted structure. The absence of characteristic Si-H absorbance peak at 2160 cm-1 in FT-IR spectra indicates consumption of silane groups along the polymer backbone. The actual moles of the side chain grafted on the backbone are calculated by 1H NMR peak integration. The results of contact angle studies indicated an increase in hydrophilicity with an increase in the composition of PEG in molecule. A 2*2 factorial DOE analysis reported that the fraction of Si-H bonds converted to PEG grafts was the critical factor towards increasing the hydrophilicity (p value of 0.015). Surface tension studies report that the air-water interfacial tension of the synthesized polymers is between 28mN/m – 45mN/m. The amount of Si-H was concluded to be the deciding factor in lowering the surface tension. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Chemical Engineering 2016