Charge Variable Polymeric Architectures: Synthesis, Characterization and Biological Applications

Banerjee, Arnab (2024) Charge Variable Polymeric Architectures: Synthesis, Characterization and Biological Applications. PhD thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.

Text (PhD thesis of Arnab Banerjee (18IP007)) 18IP007.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (8MB)

Abstract

Polymers with definite charge functionalities endow significant contributions in diverse biological applications like antifouling properties, antibacterial and antibiofilm activities, gene delivery and enhancing specific therapeutic delivery in cancer cells. Considering the structural diversity of charge-variable polymers, particularly the charged species appended with polymeric segments, control their specific biological applications. Three categories of charged polymers are well established such as (a) cationic polymers, (b) zwitterionic polymers and (c) pH-responsive charge switchable polymers. Among them, cationic polymers demonstrate strong antibacterial properties, but their activity is constrained due to their high toxicity in mammalian cells, whereas zwitterionic polymers display negligible cytotoxicity, resist non-specific adsorption of proteins and other biomolecules, and accelerate target-specific therapeutic processes. On the other hand, charge-switchable polymers display potential specific therapeutic efficacy in bacteria-assisted infections and even in specific organelles by utilizing their pH-sensitive characteristics in the specific biological milieu also enhances cellular uptake in tumour cells. Although the applications of different charged polymers are established well, however suitable modifications in the polymer structure and incorporating specific charge species design of some therapeutics is highly beneficial. Moreover, the combinations of zwitterionic as well as charge-switchable materials are not fully explored in developing new chemical and biological applications. The primary focus of this thesis is to develop simple polymeric species with definite charges and explore their applications in versatile biological domains. RAFT polymerization method was applied to synthesize the polymers to achieve control polymerizations. Also several post-polymer modifications were employed to generate different charge polymers. Primarily, pH-responsive charge-switchable polymers and polymeric assemblies are prepared to investigate their activities towards different non-specific proteins and bacteria-assisted matrices in response to different pH. Further, zwitterionic polysulfobetaine-based systems are prepared to investigate their effect on cellular actin dynamics and collective cell migrations of cancer cells. Also, a series of water-soluble homopolymers with charge variable amine functionalities were prepared to explore their photophysical properties and specific organelle targeting. In addition, this thesis discusses the existing obstacles, opportunities, and future prospects correlated with various charge-variable polymers. We are certain that this endeavour will provide a thorough examination of the design, synthesis, and diverse applications of charge-variable polymers.

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