Developing New Soft-Bonded Light-Reversible Polymer Bio-Materials

开发新型软粘合光可逆聚合物生物材料

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-05661
• 负责人: Barrett, Christopher
• 金额: $ 5.76万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=747769
• 关键词: Developing; New; Soft; Bonded; Light

The long-term objective of this proposed research program is the development of new bio-inspired and bio-sourced polymer materials that are self-assembled non-covalently from aqueous solution to form stable bio-films and structures, and that also respond to mild stimuli (such as light) to effect local reversible structural transitions. An overarching goal lies in understanding how these photo-reversible bio-materials interact at real biological interfaces, and then exploring the extent of control one can gain over this interface for a variety of bio-medical or bio-engineering applications. These new polymer assemblies will mimic real biological tissue in their soft, wet, compliant tune-ability, and the light-responsive shape-changing azo dyes incorporated in small amounts mimic our rhodopsin/retinal systems that enable vision, to provide a direct opto-bio communication interface. From a practical standpoint these new polymers are of interest as `smart' surfaces for signaling, sensing, and controlling adjacent biological activity, due to the combination of mild visible photochemical functionalities, and their inherent soft, wet bio-compatibility. From the standpoint of fundamental science, these new materials and their study ideally will enable us to contribute to basic understanding of biological function at the interface between living tissue/cells and artificial media, and communication between them, from a chemical and materials perspective. Built from water-soluble and bio-sourced components, when self-assembled together these new materials can form insoluble, stable, and strong polymeric materials. This controlled solubility transition to stability permits promising natural polymers to be incorporated for the first time (silk and other proteins, chitosan and other polysaccharides), to retain their desired properties yet prevent their ready solubility in water, and thus be applied as improved cell culture media, and eventually in vivo as biocompatible coatings for implants. This proposal represents the first expansion of our research from more simple artificial mimics of bio-polymers, into real bio-sourced superior natural polymers. This will enable us to develop entirely natural (ie: FDA-approved, even edible) polymeric assemblies for in vivo biomedical applications, that are completely soft-bonded together, to thus retain their biocompatibility and low toxicity. This could further allow soft-bound chemical cargo for delivery to be readily and gently loaded and released. The long-term vision of this research program lies in the development of new bio-inspired and bio-mimetic materials that can be self-assembled from aqueous solution and respond to light, understanding how they interact with real biological interfaces, and then exploring the extent of control over this interface for biomedical applications, now using nature as the inspiration for both the soft organic materials, and for light as the communication medium.

该拟议研究计划的长期目标是开发新型生物启发和生物来源的聚合物材料，这些材料可以从水溶液中非共价自组装，形成稳定的生物膜和结构，并且还可以对温和的环境做出反应。刺激（例如光）来影响局部可逆结构转变。首要目标在于了解这些光可逆生物材料如何在真实的生物界面上相互作用，然后探索人们可以通过该界面在各种生物医学或生物工程应用中获得的控制程度。这些新的聚合物组件将模仿真实的生物组织，其柔软、湿润、顺应的可调能力，并且少量掺入的光响应形状变化偶氮染料模仿我们的视紫红质/视网膜系统，从而实现视觉，提供直接的光生物通讯接口。从实用的角度来看，这些新型聚合物由于结合了温和的可见光化学功能及其固有的柔软、湿润的生物相容性，因此作为“智能”表面用于信号发送、传感和控制邻近的生物活性。从基础科学的角度来看，这些新材料及其研究理想地将使我们能够从化学和材料的角度促进对活组织/细胞与人工介质之间界面的生物功能以及它们之间的通信的基本理解。 这些新材料由水溶性和生物来源的成分制成，当自组装在一起时，可以形成不溶性、稳定且坚固的聚合物材料。这种受控的溶解度向稳定性的转变允许首次掺入有前途的天然聚合物（丝和其他蛋白质、壳聚糖和其他多糖），以保留其所需的特性，但阻止其在水中的易溶解性，从而应用于改进的细胞培养物介质，并最终在体内作为植入物的生物相容性涂层。该提案代表了我们的研究首次从更简单的生物聚合物人工模拟物扩展到真正的生物来源的优质天然聚合物。这将使我们能够开发用于体内生物医学应用的完全天然（即： FDA 批准的，甚至可食用的）聚合物组件，这些组件完全软粘合在一起，从而保留其生物相容性和低毒性。这可以进一步允许软结合化学货物轻松、轻柔地装载和释放。该研究计划的长期愿景在于开发新型仿生和仿生材料，这些材料可以从水溶液中自组装并对光做出反应，了解它们如何与真实的生物界面相互作用，然后探索生物医学应用对该界面的控制程度，现在使用自然作为软有机材料和光作为通信媒介的灵感。