Although synthetic cationic polymers represent a promising class of effective antibacterial agents, the molecular mechanisms behind their antimicrobial activity remain poorly understood. To this end, we employ atomic-scale molecular dynamics simulations to explore adsorption of several linear cationic polymers of different chemical structure and protonation (polyallylamine (PAA), polyethylenimi...

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) consist of carbon atoms arranged in sheets of graphene rolled up into cylindrical shapes. This class of nanomaterials has attracted attention because of their extraordinary properties, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity. In addition, development in CNT functionalization chemistry has led to an enhanced dispersibility in aqueous physiological media which ind...

BACKGROUND Local drug delivery from polymer-coated stents has demonstrated efficacy for preventing in-stent restenosis; however, both the inflammatory effects of polymer coatings and concerns about late outcomes of drug-eluting stent use indicate the need to investigate innovative approaches, such as combining localized gene therapy with stent angioplasty. Thus, we investigated the hypothesis t...

Towards the goal of development of a generic nanomaterial delivery system and delivery of the 'as prepared' nanoparticles without 'further surface modification' in a generic way, we have fabricated a hybrid polymer capsule as a delivery vehicle in which nanoparticles are loaded within their cavity. To this end, a generic approach to prepare nanomaterials-loaded polyelectrolyte multilayered (PEM...

PURPOSE To investigate the anchoring of plasmid DNA/anti-DNA antibody/cationic lipid tri-complex (DAC micelles) onto bisphosphonate-modified 316 L coronary stents for cardiovascular site-specific gene delivery. METHODS Stents were first modified with polyallylamine bisphosphonate (PAA-BP), thereby enabling the retention of a PAA-BP molecular monolayer that permits the anchoring (via vector-bi...

The clinical use of metallic expandable intravascular stents has resulted in improved therapeutic outcomes for coronary artery disease. However, arterial reobstruction after stenting, in-stent restenosis, remains an important problem. Gene therapy to treat in-stent restenosis by using gene vector delivery from the metallic stent surfaces has never been demonstrated. The present studies investig...

This thesis describes a new approach to the rational design of an artificial esterase, and is in three parts. The first part of the thesis is an introduction to the design and synthesis of artificial enzymes. This details both traditional "design', and more recent 'selection' approaches to artificial enzymes, and discusses the advantages and problems associated with the different strategies. Th...

The overall goal of this thesis was to exploit the versatility of the polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) platform to consider bacteria‐substrata interactions by varying multilayer assembly and post‐assembly conditions. We developed multiple PEM systems to probe the ability of substrata to resist bacteria attachment or act as contact‐killing antimicrobials. In the first study, by varying the pH ...