Bisurea-Based Supramolecular Polymers for Tunable Biomaterials.

Water-soluble supramolecular polymers show great potential to develop dynamic biomaterials with tailored properties. Here, we elucidate the morphology, stability and dynamicity of supramolecular polymers derived from bisurea-based monomers. An accessible synthetic approach from 2,4-toluene diisocyanate (TDI) as the starting material is developed. TDI has two isocyanates that differ in intrinsic reactivity, which allows to obtain functional, desymmetrized monomers in a one-step procedure. We explore how the hydrophobic/hydrophilic ratio affects the properties of the formed supramolecular polymers by increasing the number of methylene units from 10 to 12 keeping the hydrophilic hexa(ethylene glycol) constant. All bisurea-based monomers form long, fibrous structures with 3-5 monomers in the cross-section in water, indicating a proper hydrophobic\hydrophilic balance. The stability of the supramolecular polymers increases with an increasing amount of methylene units, whereas the dynamic nature of the monomers decreases. The introduction of one Cy3 dye affords modified supramolecular monomers, which co-assemble with the unmodified monomers into fibrous structures. All systems show excellent water-compatibility and no toxicity for different cell-lines. Importantly, in cell culture media, the fibrous structures remain present, highlighting the stability of these supramolecular polymers in physiological conditions. The results obtained here motivate further investigation of these bisurea-based building blocks as dynamic biomaterial.

Structure and Dynamics of Supramolecular Polymers: Wait and See.

The introduction of stereogenic centers in supramolecular building blocks is used to unveil subtle changes in supramolecular structure and dynamics over time. Three stereogenic centers based on deuterium atoms were introduced in the side chains of a benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide (BTA) resulting in a supramolecular polymer in water that at first glance has a structure and dynamics identical to its achiral counterpart. Using three different techniques, the properties of the double helical polymers are compared after 1 day and 4 weeks. An increase in helical preference is observed over time as well as a decrease in the helical pitch and monomer exchange dynamics. It is proposed that the polymer of the chiral monomer needs time to arrive at its maximal preference in helical bias. These results indicate that the order and tight packing increase over time, while the dynamics of this supramolecular polymer decrease over time, an effect that is typically overlooked but unveiled by the isotopic chirality.

Quantifying Guest-Host Dynamics in Supramolecular Assemblies to Analyze Their Robustness.

The most basic function of synthetic microenvironments for tissue engineering is to act as a physical substrate for cell attachment, migration, and proliferation, similar to the natural cell environment. Functionalization of supramolecular materials with guest compounds that display the same recognition moieties is a common strategy to introduce biofunctionality. However, besides a robust interaction with the material, a certain level of dynamics needs to be conserved for an adaptive interface toward the living environment. A balance between robust material functionalization and dynamic cell interaction needs to be met. The detailed analysis hereof using a ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy) poly(ethylene glycol) system in dilute and transient network regime is demonstrated. Monovalent and bivalent UPy-functionalized guest molecules are designed and their interaction with UPy-host fibers is evaluated. Analysis of guest interaction in the dilute state by microfluidics, and in the gel state, by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and fluorescence resonance energy transfer is proven to be suitable to quantify the local and ensemble guest mobility. The results demonstrate that the interaction of bioactive moieties through supramolecular host-guest chemistry yields a dynamic system, which is stronger for divalent guests but risks unintended leakage in the case of functional monomeric units.

Chemical and biological properties of supramolecular polymer systems based on oligocaprolactones.

We show that materials with a diverse range of mechanical and biological properties can be obtained using a modular approach by simply mixing different ratios of oligocaprolactones that are either end-functionalized or chain-extended with quadruple hydrogen bonding ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy) moieties. The use of two UPy-synthons allows for easy synthesis of UPy-modified polymers resulting in high yields. Comparison of end-functionalized UPy-polymers with chain-extended UPy-polymers shows that these polymers behave distinctively different regarding their material and biological properties. The end-modified UPy-polymer is rather stiff and brittle due to its high crystallinity. Disks made of this material fractures after subcutaneous implantation. The material shows a low inflammatory response which is accompanied by the formation of a fibrous capsule, reflecting the inertness of the material. The chain-extended UPy-material on the contrary is practically free of crystalline domains and shows clear flexible properties. This material deforms after in-vivo implantation, accompanied with cellular infiltration. By mixing both polymers, materials with intermediate properties concerning their mechanical and biological behaviour can be obtained. Surprisingly, a 20:80 mixture of both polymers with the chain-extended UPy-polymer in excess shows flexible properties without visible deformation upon implantation for 42 days. This mixture, a blend formed by intimate mixing through UPy-UPy interaction, also shows a mild tissue response accompanied with the formation of a thin capsule. The material does not become more crystalline upon implantation. Hence, this mixture might be an ideal scaffold material for soft tissue engineering due to its flexibility and diminished fibrous tissue formation, and illustrates the strength of the modular approach.

Mechanically induced chemiluminescence from polymers incorporating a 1,2-dioxetane unit in the main chain.

Nature uses mechanochemical transduction processes to achieve diverse and vital functions, such as hearing, cellular adhesion and gating of ion channels. One fascinating example of biological mechanotransduction is the emission of light on mechanical stimulation. However, molecular-level transduction of force into luminescence in a synthetic system remains a challenge. Here, we show that bis(adamantyl)-1,2-dioxetane emits visible light when force is applied to a polymer chain or network in which this unit is incorporated. Bright-blue luminescence was observed on sonication of solutions of dioxetane-containing linear polymers and on the straining of polymer networks with dioxetane crosslinkers. Light is emitted from the adamantanone-excited state that forms on opening of the four-membered dioxetane ring. Increased sensitivity and colour tuning were achieved by energy transfer to suitable acceptors. High spatial and temporal resolutions highlight the potential to study the failure of polymeric materials in unprecedented detail.

Molecular recognition in poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-based thermoplastic elastomers.

The molecular recognition properties of the hydrogen bonding segments in biodegradable thermoplastic elastomers were explored, aiming at the further functionalization of these potentially interesting biomaterials. A poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-based poly(urea) 2 was synthesized and characterized in terms of mechanical properties, processibility and histocompatibility. Comparison of the data with those obtained from the structurally related poly(urethane urea) 1 revealed that the difference in hard segment structure does not significantly affect the potency for application as a biomaterial. Nevertheless, the small differences in hard block composition had a strong effect on the molecular recognition properties of the hydrogen bonding segments. High selectivity was found for poly(urea) 2 in which bisureidobutylene-functionalized azobenzene dye 3 was selectively incorporated while bisureidopentylene-functionalized azobenzene dye 4 was completely released. In contrast, the incorporation of both dyes in poly(urethane urea) 1 led in both cases to their gradual release in time. Thermal analysis of the polymers in combination with variable temperature infrared experiments indicated that the hard blocks in 1 showed a sharp melting point, whereas those in 2 showed a very broad melting trajectory. This suggests a more precise organization of the hydrogen bonding segments in the hard blocks of poly(urea) 2 compared to poly(urethane urea) 1 and explains the results from the molecular recognition experiments. Preliminary results revealed that a bisureidobutylene-functionalized GRGDS peptide showed more supramolecular interaction with the PCL-based poly(urea), containing the bisureidobutylene recognition unit, as compared to HMW PCL, lacking this recognition unit.