Fabrication of a thermo-sensitive poly(N-acetyl-L-glutamic acid-co-lysine ester) with excellent biocompatibility

Abstract

Non-cytotoxicity or good biocompatibility is an essential requisite for the thermo-sensitive polymeric materials used in the biomedical fields. In this study, a new poly(Nacetyl-L-glutamic acid-co-lysine ester) (PGAL) with excellent thermo-sensitivity and biocompatibility is synthesized from natural lysine and glutamic acid. The chemical structures of the monomers and polymers are determined by 1 H NMR, FTIR spectrum, and GPC. PGAL shows a reversible lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of 17.3-31.7°C, and the thermo-sensitivity is affected by its molecular weight, structure, and concentration. The viability of HeLa cells in 0.01-10 μg/mL PGAL solution is found to be in a range of 98-110 % after 24, 48, and 72 h of incubation. To sum up, this new thermo-sensitive PGAL has excellent biocompatibility that makes it a promising material in the biomedical fields.

Synthesis of Temperature and Light Sensitive Copolymers with Controlled Aggregation during Phase Transitions

“…The structural prerequisites for thermosensitive polymers are the existence of hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups bonded onto the macromolecular chains . A relative balance between the hydrophilic interactions and hydrophobic interactions from the polymer is also required in solvents such as water . For the three homopolymers, poly(acetyl amino acrylate) and poly(propionyl amino acrylate) are completely soluble in water due to their high hydrophilicity and poly(benzoyl amino acrylate) is insoluble in water because of its higher number of hydrophobic groups.…”

“…Our group has extensive experience in researching the molecular design and preparation of thermosensitive polymers and has synthesized a variety of new thermosensitive polymers. [19,20,[24][25][26] It was found that qualitative descriptions of these structural requirements can be transformed to quantitative expressions regarding the synthesis of thermosensitive polymers. That is, every practical hydrophilic group on the polymer chain that is described has a certain number of hydrophobic moieties.…”

“…In terms of chemistry, both thermosensitive and photosensitive polymers have certain structural requirements . Thermosensitive polymers must have hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups on their macromolecular chains.…”

“…More importantly, the relative number of hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups on the polymer is fixed and not arbitrary, which can be seen in the reported molecular structures of thermosensitive polymers such as poly( N ‐isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAAm), poly(2‐oxazoline), poly(oligo ethylene oxide–methacrylate), and so on. Our group has extensive experience in researching the molecular design and preparation of thermosensitive polymers and has synthesized a variety of new thermosensitive polymers . It was found that qualitative descriptions of these structural requirements can be transformed to quantitative expressions regarding the synthesis of thermosensitive polymers.…”

“…That is, every practical hydrophilic group on the polymer chain that is described has a certain number of hydrophobic moieties. When the numbers of practical hydrophobic groups and the transformed hydrophobic moieties are equal or close to being equal, the polymer will usually be responsive to external temperature changes . Based on this principle, we can theoretically estimate or predict the potential thermosensitivity of a designed polymer, which has significantly improved the efficiency of research on thermosensitive polymers.…”