We have recently reported that liposomes in combination with histidine (HK)-containing polymers enhanced the expression of luciferase in transfected cells. In transformed or malignant cell lines, branched HK polymers (combined with liposome carriers) were significantly more effective than the linear HK polymer in stimulating gene expression. In the current study, we found that the linear HK pol...

The interaction between copovidone and Carbopol 907 is pH dependent. When the pH of an aqueous solution fell below pH 4.5, a water-insoluble complex began to form and precipitate. This complex resulted from a hydrogen-bond-induced interaction between the carboxylic groups in Carbopol 907 and the carbonyl groups of N-vinylpyrrolidone repeat units in copovidone. Consisting of these two polymers a...

Functional polymers bear specified chemical groups, and have specified physical, chemical, biological, pharmacological, or other uses. To adjust the properties while keeping material usage low, a method for direct synthesis of functional polymers is indispensable. Here we show that various functional polymers can be synthesized by in situ cross-linked polymerization/copolymerization. We demonst...

pH-responsive polymers have been synthesised by grafting l-valine (PV-75), l-leucine (PL-75) and l-phenylalanine (PP-75) onto the pendant carboxylic acid moieties of a pseudo-peptide, poly(l-lysine iso-phthalamide), at a stoichiometric degree of substitution of 75 mol%. The effect of such modification on the pH-, concentration- and time-dependent cell membrane-disruptive activity of the grafted...

The Formaldehyde-Sulfite (FS) and the Formaldehyde-Sulfite-Gluconolactone (FSG) systems are examples of complex chemical reactions accompanied by well-controlled variations in pH. While the FS system exhibits a clock behavior, in the FSG reaction, this mechanism is coupled with the hydrolysis of the gluconolactone which gives the possibility to show large temporal oscillations of pH in an open ...

Amphiphilic A2(BC)2 miktoarm star polymers [poly(ϵ-caprolactone)]2-[poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-b- poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate)]2 [(PCL)2(PDEA-b-PPEGMA)2] were developed by a combination of ring opening polymerization (ROP) and continuous activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP). The critical micelle conc...

Novel pH-sensitive gel-forming pentablock copolymers based on commercially available Pluronic (poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide)-b-poly(ethylene oxide), PEO-b-PPO-b-PEO) triblock copolymers and cationic diblock copolymers based on polyethylene glycol) methyl ether (PEGME) were synthesized by oxyanionic polymerization. Polymerization of the cationic moiety, poly((diethylamino)-ethyl m...

Selective flocculation has long been suggested as a method for the treatment of ultra-fine particles typical of which are those produced in a de-sliming process ahead of flotation. In this paper the results of the coal de-mineralization, using synthetic polyacrylamide polymers, are presented. A prescreening test on the suitability of the polymers using Run-Of-Mine (R.O.M.) coal and artificial m...

Nanofibres functionalised with pH-sensitive dyes could greatly contribute to the development of stimuli-responsive materials. However, the application of biocompatible polymers is vital to allow for their use in (bio)medical applications. Therefore, this paper focuses on the development and characterisation of pH-sensitive polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibrous structures and PCL/chitosan nanofibro...