Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Deyue Yan.
A new type of materials, the backbone-thermoresponsive hyperbranched polyether, was successfully synthesized by proton-transfer polymerization of 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether and various triols, and the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) values can be readily adjusted from 19.0 to 40.3 degrees C by changing the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance of BDE and triols.
Star-shaped porphyrin-cored poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (SPPCL) was synthesized using a tetrahydroxyethyl-terminated porphyrin as a core initiator and stannous octoate as a catalyst in bulk at 120 degrees C. The molecular weight of as-synthesized polymer could be adjusted linearly by controlling the molar ratio of epsilon-caprolactone to porphyrin core initiator, and the molecular weight distribution was reasonably narrow. Supramolecular polypseudorotaxanes were prepared by inclusion complexation of SPPCL with alpha-cyclodextrin (alpha-CD) and thoroughly characterized by means of FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C CP/MAS NMR, DSC, TGA, and WAXD. The results demonstrated that the porphyrin-cored polypseudorotaxanes formed through alpha-CD molecules threading onto the branch chains of star-shaped SPPCL polymers, and they had a channel-type crystalline structure. Meanwhile, the original crystallization of SPPCL polymers within the polypseudorotaxanes was completely suppressed in the alpha-CD cavities. Moreover, inclusion complexation between SPPCL and alpha-CD enhanced the thermal stability of both the guest SPPCL polymers and the host alpha-CD. Furthermore, both the SPPCL polymers and the polypseudorotaxanes showed similar fluorescent and UV-vis spectra compared with porphyrin core initiator. Consequently, this will not only provide potentially porphyrin-cored poly(epsilon-caprolactone) and its polypseudorotaxanes for photodynamic therapy but also improve the compatibility between poly(epsilon-caprolactone) and peptide drugs for drug delivery.
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Membrane fusion is very important for the formation of many complex organs in metazoans throughout evolution, such as muscles, bones, and placentae. Lipid vesicles (liposomes) are frequently used as model membranes to study the fusion process. This work demonstrates for the first time the real-time membrane fusion of giant polymer vesicles by directly displaying a series of high-resolution and real-time transformation images of individual vesicles. The fusion process includes the sequential steps of membrane contact, forming the center wall, symmetric expansion of fusion pore and complete fusion, undergoing the intermediates of "8" shape with a protruding rim at the contact site, peanut (pear) shape, and oblate sphere. The vesicle swells during fusion, and the fusing vesicle only deforms in the neck domain around the fusion pore in the lateral direction, which verifies the importance of the lateral tension on the fusion pore at the vesicle deformation level. The successful fusion of the synthetic and protein-free polymer vesicles reported here also supports that vesicle proximity combined with membrane perturbation suffices to induce membrane fusion, and that the protein is not necessary for the fusion process.
A single step seed dispersion polymerisation is reported for the first time, in which scCO2 is used simultaneously as both an antisolvent and a polymerisation medium to create polymer-C60 composite microparticles providing additional proof for the mechanism of dispersion polymerisation in scCO2.
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The conformational change of isotactic poly(propylene) (iPP) during the thermal degradation process has been carefully studied by in situ Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. This new method of studying thermal degradation of iPP not only shows the conventional kinetic parameter information of thermal degradation such as the degradation activation energy DeltaE and the degradation factor n, which are in accord with the results of traditional thermogravimetry experiments, but also indicates that many significant molecular structure changes occur during the thermal degradation process that come from some characteristic absorption band changes of in situ FT-IR. A multivariate approach, principal components analysis (PCA), is applied to the analysis of infrared (IR) data, and the results further confirm the multi-step processes of the thermal degradation of iPP. Above all, this is a new application to polymer thermal degradation by in situ FT-IR that connects the intermediate conformational change with final results during thermal degradation.
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The in situ ATRP (atom transfer radical polymerization) "grafting from" approach was successfully applied to graft poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) onto the convex surfaces of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT). The thickness of the coated polymer layers can be conveniently controlled by the feed ratio of MMA to preliminarily functionalized MWNT (MWNT-Br). The resulting MWNT-based polymer brushes were characterized and confirmed with FTIR, 1H NMR, SEM, TEM, and TGA. Moreover, the approach has been extended to the copolymerization system, affording novel hybrid core-shell nanoobjects with MWNT as the core and amphiphilic poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PMMA-b-PHEMA) as the shell. The approach presented here may open an avenue for exploring and preparing novel carbon nanotubes-based nanomaterials and molecular devices with tailor-made structure, architecture, and properties.
A new class of crystalline inclusion complexes of a multiarm hyperbranched polyether combined with various cyclodextrins (CDs) was successfully prepared. Using self-condensing ring-opening polymerization, a kind of multiarm polyether with a hyperbranched poly(3-ethyl-3-oxetanemethanol) core and multiple linear poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) arms was obtained. It has been found that this kind of hyperbranched polyether can be dissolved in water. Adding alpha-CDs to the multiarm hyperbranched polyether solution, molecular recognition results in the formation of crystalline inclusion complexes based on the noncovalent interactions between the linear PEG arms of the polyether particles and the alpha-CDs. These multiarm polyether inclusion complexes have been well characterized. Interestingly, quite different from inclusion complexes of CDs and linear polymeric guests, the complexes of the multiarm hyperbranched polyether with alpha-CDs show a novel lamellar morphology. The experimental results validate that the resultant lamellar crystals have a juxtaposed structure. In addition, the formation mechanism of these inclusion complexes of a multiarm polyether with alpha-CDs has also been well described. Besides the role of displacement of associated water molecules and the presence of hydrogen bonding between CDs in channel structure CD inclusion complexes, the noncovalent intermolecular forces between CDs and polymers also play an important role in the formation of complex architectures.
The macroscopic molecular self-assembly of an amphiphilic hyperbranched copolymer in acetone generated multiwalled tubes millimeters in diameter and centimeters in length. The thickness of the tube walls approaches 400 nanometers, and the walls have an inhomogeneous lamella structure that alternates between ordered hydrophilic domains and amorphous, partly irregular hydrophilic domains.
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A novel approach to hyperbranched polymers is presented in this work. Hyperbranched polyesters with a large amount of terminal hydroxyl groups are prepared by a one-pot synthesis from commercially available AB-type and CD(n)-type monomers (n >/= 2). In this paper, Michael addition of diethanolamine (CD(2)) or N-methyl-d-glucamine (CD(5)) to methyl acrylate (AB) generates dominantly AD(n)-type intermediates. Further self-condensation of intermediates at higher temperature and in the presence of catalyst gives hyperbranched polyesters. Because of the tertiary amino groups in the backbone and the hydroxyl groups in the linear and terminal units, the resulting hyperbranched polyester is highly soluble in water. Furthermore, the hyperbranched polymer is degradable because of its ester units. So, the water-soluble hyperbranched polyesters might be applied as a novel material for drug delivery.