Influence of the Topology of Poly(L-Cysteine) on the Self-Assembly, Encapsulation and Release Profile of Doxorubicin on Dual-Responsive Hybrid Polypeptides.

Τhe synthesis of a series of novel hybrid block copolypeptides based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(l-histidine) (PHis) and poly(l-cysteine) (PCys) is presented. The synthesis of the terpolymers was achieved through a ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of the corresponding protected -carboxy anhydrides of --l-histidine and --butyl-l-cysteine, using an end-amine-functionalized poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-NH) as macroinitiator, followed by the deprotection of the polypeptidic blocks. The topology of PCys was either the middle block, the end block or was randomly distributed along the PHis chain.

Synthesis and Characterization of the Novel -9-Fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl-l-Lysine -Carboxy Anhydride. Synthesis of Well-Defined Linear and Branched Polypeptides.

The synthesis of well-defined polypeptides exhibiting complex macromolecular architectures requires the use of monomers that can be orthogonally deprotected, containing primary amines that will be used as the initiator for the Ring Opening Polymerization (ROP) of N-carboxy anhydrides. The synthesis and characterization of the novel monomer -9-Fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl-l-Lysine -carboxy anhydride (-Fmoc-l-Lysine NCA), as well as the novel linear Poly(-Fmoc-l-Lys) homopolypeptide and Poly(l-Lysine)--[Poly(l-Lysine)-t-Poly(l-Histidine)] block-graft copolypeptide, are presented. The synthesis of the graft copolypeptide was conducted via ROP of the -Boc-l-Lysine NCA while using -hexylamine as the initiator, followed by the polymerization of -Fmoc-l-Lysine NCA.

Nanostructured Polymeric, Liposomal and Other Materials to Control the Drug Delivery for Cardiovascular Diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year, representing one third of global mortality. As existing therapies still have limited success, due to the inability to control the biodistribution of the currently approved drugs, the quality of life of these patients is modest.

Polymersomes from Hybrids -Polypeptides for Drug Delivery Applications.

Recently, the explosion of progress of materials at the nanoscale level has paved the way for a new category of healthcare technologies termed nanomedicine. Nanomedicine involves materials at the nanometer level for products that can improve the currently used technologies for biomedical applications. While traditional therapeutics have allowed for limited control of their distribution in the body and clearing times, engineering at the nanoscale level has allowed for significant advances in biocompatibility, biodistribution, and pharmacokinetics.

Drug Delivery Through Multifunctional Polypeptidic Hydrogels.

Over the last two decades, remarkable progress has been made to the discovery of novel drugs as well as their delivery systems for the treatment of cancer, the major challenge in medicine. Pharmaceutical scientists are trying to shift from traditional to novel drug delivery systems by applying nanotechnology and, in particular, polymeric carriers to medicine. In complex diseases, very sophisticated nanocarriers should be designed to encapsulate a significant quantity of drugs and bypass biological barriers with minimum cargo loss to effectively and directly deliver the encapsulated drug to the desired pathological site.

Micellization in pH-sensitive amphiphilic block copolymers in aqueous media and the formation of metal nanoparticles.

Dynamic light scattering, potentiometric titration, transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy have been used to investigate the micellar behaviour and metal-nanoparticle formation in poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine), PEO-b-P2VP, poly(hexa(ethylene glycol) methacrylate)-block-poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate), PHEGMA-b-PDEAEMA, and PEO-b-PDEAEMA amphiphilic diblock copolymers in water. The hydrophobic block of these copolymers (P2VP or PDEAEMA) is pH-sensitive: at low pH it can be protonated and becomes partially or completely hydrophilic leading to molecular solubility whereas at higher pH micelles are formed. These micelles consist of a P2VP or PDEAEMA core and a PEO or PHEGMA corona, respectively, where the core forming amine units can incorporate metal compounds due to coordination.