UCLA

Rapid renal clearance, liver accumulation, proteolytic degradation and non-specificity are challenges small molecule drugs, peptides, proteins and nucleic acid therapeutics encounter en route to their intended destination within the body. Nanocarriers (i.e. dendritric polymers, vesicles, and micelles) of approximately 100 nm in diameter, shuttle small molecule drugs to their desired location through passive (EPR effect) and active (ligand-mediated) targeting, maximizing therapeutic efficiency.

Polypeptide-based polymers are water-soluble, biocompatible, non-toxic and are therefore excellent candidates for nanocarriers.

Dendritic polymers, including dendrimers, cylindrical brushes, and star polymers, are the newest class of nanomedicine drug delivery vehicles. The synthesis and characterization of dendritic polymers is challenging, with tedious and costly procedures. Dendritic polymers possess peripheral pendent functional groups that can potentially be used in ligand-mediated drug delivery vehicles and bioimaging applications. More specifically, cylindrical brushes are dendritic polymers where a single linear polymer (primary chain) has polymer chains (secondary chains) grafted to it. Recently, research groups have shown that cylindrical brush polymers are capable of nanoparticle and supramolecular structure self-assembly.

The facile preparation of high-density brush copolypeptides by the "grafting from" approach will be discussed. This approach utilizes a novel, tandem catalytic methodology where alloc-α-aminoamide groups are installed within the side-chains of the α-amino-N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) monomer serving as masked initiators. These groups are inert during cobalt initiated NCA polymerization, and give alloc-α-aminoamide substituted polypeptide main-chains. The alloc-α-aminoamide groups are activated in situ using nickel to generate initiators for growth of side-chain brush segments. This method proves to be efficient, yielding well-defined, high-density brushes for applications in drug delivery and imaging.

Here, we also report a method for the synthesis of soluble, well-defined, azido functionalized polypeptides in a straightforward, 3-step synthesis. Homo and diblock azidopolypeptides were prepared with controlled segment lengths via living polymerization using Co(PMe₃)₄ initiator. Through copper azide alkyne click chemistry (CuAAC) in organic solvent, azidopolypeptides were regioselectively and quantitatively modified with carboxylic acid (pH-responsive), amino acid and sugar functional groups.

Finally, the advances towards well-defined hyperbranched polypeptides through α-amino-acid-N-thiocarboxyanhydrides (NTAs) will be discussed. Within the past 10 years, controlled NCA (α-amino acid-N-carboxyanhydride) ring-opening polymerization (ROP) has emerged, expanding the application of copolypeptide polymers in various drug delivery and tissue engineering motifs. Modification of NCA monomers to the corresponding α-amino-acid-N-thiocarboxyanhydride (NTA) will diversify ROP reactions, leading to more complex polypeptides (such as hyperbranched polymers), in addition to the possibility of performing these polymerizations under ambient conditions, which would greatly expand their potential utility. The project focuses on the preparation of hyperbranched polypeptides with well-defined architectures and controlled branching density in a one-pot reaction. This will be accomplished by taking advantage of the different selectivities of Co(PMe₃)₄ and depeNi(COD) polymerization initiators, and by exploiting the reactivity difference between NCA and the more stable NTA monomers.