A decade of innovation and progress in understanding the morphology and structure of heterogeneous polymers into rigid confinement

When confined into nanoscale domains, polymers generally encounter changes of their structural, thermodynamics and dynamics properties compared to those in bulk, due to the high amount of polymer/walls interfaces and...

Microbial transglutaminase for biotechnological and biomedical engineering

Research on bacterial transglutaminase dates back to 1989, when the enzyme has been isolated from Streptomyces mobaraensis. Initially discovered during an extensive screening campaign to reduce costs in food manufacturing, it quickly appeared as a robust and versatile tool for biotechnological and pharmaceutical applications due to its excellent activity and simple handling. While pioneering attempts to make use of its extraordinary cross-linking ability resulted in heterogeneous polymers, currently it is applied to site-specifically ligate diverse biomolecules yielding precisely modified hybrid constructs comprising two or more components. This review covers the extensive and rapidly growing field of microbial transglutaminase-mediated bioconjugation with the focus on pharmaceutical research. In addition, engineering of the enzyme by directed evolution and rational design is highlighted. Moreover, cumbersome drawbacks of this technique mainly caused by the enzyme’s substrate indiscrimination are discussed as well as the ways to bypass these limitations.

Different directional energy dissipation of heterogeneous polymers in bimodal atomic force microscopy

Dynamic force microscopy (DFM) has become a multifunctional and powerful technique for the study of the micro–nanoscale imaging and force detection, especially in the compositional and nanomechanical properties of polymers.

Preparation and Characterization of New Carrier Drug Polymers Based Maleimide and Its Drug Release Behaviour

In this work, two new drug substituted monomers and new homogenous and heterogeneous polymers were synthesized loaded with medicinal properties to extend the controlled drug. The first step includes preparation of compound (F1) via reaction of maleic anhydride with 4-aminobenzoic acid. Then compound (F1) was converted to its corresponding acyl chloride derivative which reacted with amino drugs (sulfadiazine, chlordiazepoxide) afforded (F2 and F3) monomers. Homogeneous polymers (F8 and F9) prepared through polymerization reaction of free radicals of the monomers (F2 and F3) under nitrogen using methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) as initiator. Heterogeneous polymers (F14 and F15) prepared through polymerization reaction of free radicals of the monomers (F2 and F3) separately with acrylic acid under nitrogen using methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) as initiator. All these prepared monomers and polymers were characterized by FT-IR and 1H NMR, 13C NMR spectroscopies. Controlled drug release and swelling % was studied in different pH values at 37 ºC. Intrinsic viscosities were measured at 25 ºC with Ostwald viscometer and applied the characteristic of solubility for these polymers.