Reduction Triggered In Situ Polymerization in Living Mice
Lina Cui1,2,3,4, Sandro Vivona5,6,7, Bryan Ronain Smith3
1Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610, United States.
Journal of the American Chemical Society
|August 18, 2020
Summary
Researchers developed activatable small molecules that polymerize in vivo in response to reducing environments. This creates pseudopolysaccharides for potential biomedical applications like molecular imaging.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Polymer Chemistry
- Molecular Imaging
Background:
- Smart biomaterials respond to physiological stimuli, enabling applications in tissue engineering, therapeutics, and molecular imaging.
- In vivo polymerization offers a novel approach for creating functional biomaterials within a biological system.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and characterize small molecules capable of in situ polymerization in response to in vivo reducing environments.
- To investigate the potential of these polymers for dual-modality optical imaging.
Main Methods:
- Design of a small molecule scaffold utilizing a carbohydrate linker and cyanobenzothiazole-cysteine condensation reaction.
- In situ polymerization triggered by changes in the reducing environment.
- Evaluation of fluorescent and photoacoustic properties using dual-modality optical imaging.
Main Results:
- Successful in situ polymerization of the designed small molecule scaffold in response to a reducing environment.
- Demonstration of the probe's fluorescent and photoacoustic properties before and after polymerization.
- Confirmation of in situ polymerization following both local and systemic administration in living mice.
Conclusions:
- The developed small molecule scaffold enables in situ polymerization, forming pseudopolysaccharides under specific physiological conditions.
- This technology holds promise for advanced molecular imaging and other biomedical applications requiring responsive materials.
