TGF-β(transforming growth factor-β) superfamily signaling mediators are important regulators of diverse physiological and pathological events. TGF-β signals are transduced by transmembrane type I and type II serine/threonine kinase receptors and their downstream effectors, the SMAD(drosophila mothers against decapentaplegic protein) proteins. Numerous studies have already demonstrated crucial r...

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) oligomer containing one adamantyl (AD) and two β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) moieties at the chain terminals, AD-PNIPAM-(β-CD)(2), was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and successive click reactions. In aqueous solution, AD-PNIPAM-(β-CD)(2) spontaneously forms supramolecular thermoresponsive hyperbranched polymers via molecular recognition ...

Nonviral gene therapy holds great promise but has not delivered treatments for clinical application to date. Lack of safe and efficient gene delivery vectors is the major hurdle. Among nonviral gene delivery vectors, poly(β-amino ester)s are one of the most versatile candidates because of their wide monomer availability, high polymer flexibility, and superior gene transfection performance both ...

Preventive and regenerative techniques have been suggested to minimize the aesthetic functional effects caused by intraoral bone defects, enabling installation of dental implants. Among them, porous three-dimensional structures (scaffolds) composed mainly bioabsorbable ceramics, such as hydroxyapatite (HAp) β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) stand out for reducing use autogenous, homogeneous, xenog...

We have studied the formation and the stability of ionomer complexes from grafted copolymers (GICs) in solution and the influence of GIC coatings on the adsorption of the proteins β-lactoglobulin (β-lac), bovine serum albumin (BSA), and lysozyme (Lsz) on silica and polysulfone. The GICs consist of the grafted copolymer PAA(28)-co-PAPEO(22) {poly(acrylic acid)-co-poly[acrylate methoxy poly(ethyl...

Cyclodextrin-conjugated poly(lactic acid)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (β-CD-PLA-mPEG), a well-defined amphiphilic copolymer, was synthesized by controlled ring-open copolymerization and click coupling reaction, in order to obtain a biocompatible drug delivery system with controlled release profiles. The β-CD-PLA-mPEG copolymer could self-assemble in aqueous solution to form micelles with a mean par...