Title:
Nano-Assembly of Precisely-Synthesized Amphiphilic Polypeptides and Cell-Engineering Application

Speaker(s):
Monika PATEL, Kazuaki MATSUMURA^*

School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan

Abstract:
Synthetic polypeptides, are unique biodegradable and biocompatible polymers with structures mimicking natural proteins. These polymers exhibit reversible secondary conformation transitions and/or hydrophilic-hydrophobic transitions in response to changes in conditions. So we successfully synthesized poly L-lysine-b-poly L-phenylalanine (PLL-b-PPA) and poly glutamic acid-b-poly phenylalanine (PGA-b-PPA) copolymers by ring-opening polymerization of N-carboxyanhydrides of different amino acids. Polymerization conditions were optimized regarding block sequence and length considering the solubility and micelle formation tendency. All the block copolymers thus obtained showed a controllable molecular weight with narrow PDI. Additionally, these block copolymers have been found to yield stable core shell micelles around 270 nm diameter as observed by DLS. These micelles were further cross-linked to form hydrogels matrix for further biomedical use.