Selective Promotion of Adhesion of Shewanella oneidensis on Mannose-Decorated Glycopolymer Surfaces.

Using glycopolymer surfaces, we have stimulated Shewanella oneidensis bacterial colonization and induced where the bacteria attach on a molecular pattern. When adherent bacteria were rinsed with methyl α-d-mannopyranoside, the glycopolymer-functionalized surfaces retained more cells than self-assembled monolayers terminated by a single mannose unit. These results suggest that the three-dimensional multivalency of the glycopolymers both promotes and retains bacterial attachment. When the methyl α-d-mannopyranoside competitor was codeposited with the cell culture, however, the mannose-based polymer was not significantly different from bare gold surfaces. The necessity for equilibration between methyl α-d-mannopyranoside and the cell culture to remove the enhancement suggests that the retention of cells on glycopolymer surfaces is kinetically controlled and is not a thermodynamic result of the cluster glycoside effect. The MshA lectin appears to facilitate the improved adhesion observed. Our findings that the surfaces studied here can induce stable initial attachment and influence the ratio of bacterial strains on the surface may be applied to harness useful microbial communities.

Poly(methyl 6-acryloyl-ß-d-glucosaminoside) as a Cationic Glycomimetic of Chitosan.

Chitosan, a cationic polysaccharide derived from one of the most abundant natural polymers, chitin, has been investigated extensively for its antimicrobial properties. However, it suffers from the inherent drawbacks of natural products such as batch-to-batch variability, limited supply, contamination, and potential adverse reaction. Additionally, its solubility depends on the degree of deacetylation and pH, as it is only soluble under acidic conditions. As an alternative to chitosan, we synthesized the protected cationic glycomimetic monomer methyl N-Fmoc-6-acryloyl-ß-d-glucosaminoside from glucosamine. This monomer retains structural features critical to recapitulating the properties of the chitosan repeat unit, namely, the pKa of the protonated amine. We optimized the free radical polymerization of methyl N-Fmoc-6-acryloyl-ß-d-glucosaminoside and fractionated the resultant poly(methyl N-Fmoc-6-acryloyl-ß-d-glucosaminoside) to obtain a range of molecular weights. Following Fmoc deprotection, the cationic glycopolymers retained 95% of their expected amine content by mass and exhibited a pKa of 6.61. Poly(methyl 6-acryloyl-ß-d-glucosaminoside) mimicked the molecular weight-dependent bacterial inhibitory property of chitosan in acidic solutions. Importantly, poly(methyl 6-acryloyl-ß-d-glucosaminoside) remained soluble at elevated pH (conditions under which chitosan is insoluble) and maintained its antibacterial activity. Mammalian cell viability in the presence of poly(methyl 6-acryloyl-ß-d-glucosaminoside) at acidic pH is good, although somewhat lower than viability in the presence of chitosan. No cytotoxic effect was observed at neutral pH. These results demonstrate that poly(methyl 6-acryloyl-ß-d-glucosaminoside) is not only a suitable biomimetic for chitosan, but that it can be utilized as an antibacterial agent in a broader range of biologically relevant pHs.

Synthesis, characterization, and biological interaction of glyconanoparticles with controlled branching.

Branched amphiphilic copolymers were synthesized through the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) chain extension of a poly(methyl acrylate) macro-chain transfer agent using a protected galactose monomer and a polymerizable chain transfer agent branching unit. After galactose deprotection, the copolymers were self-assembled via nanoprecipitation. The resultant nanoparticles were analyzed for their size, shape, and biological interaction with a galactose binding lectin. Using light scattering, the nanoparticles were determined to be solid spheres. Nanoparticles containing branched glycoblocks bound significantly more lectin than those containing comparable linear blocks. By adjusting the molecular weight and branching of the copolymer, the size of the self-assembled nanoparticle and the saccharide density on its surface can be varied.