UCLA

Antimicrobial activity and smoking-induced inflammation are two seemingly disparate immunological phenomena in which the inherent heterogeneity of the system obfuscates the underlying fundamental mechanisms. Synthetic polymers represent a promising approach to simulating these systems. Here, a set of polyoxazoline-based synthetic antimicrobals exhibited a reversal in selectivity for Gram positive or Gram negative bacteria simply by tuning the ratio of hydrophilic to hydrophilic monomers. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) reveals a link between bacterial selectivity and phase behavior. Additionally, a set of synthetic polymers recapitulating chemical motifs from tobacco alkaloids were shown to organize DNA. SAXS suggests that pH-dependent organization of DNA by these tobacco mimics is consistent with known mechanisms of immune hyperactivation and hyperinflammation. Overall, these results demonstrate the efficacy of synthetic polymers in emulating complex immunological phenomena and their potential for developing tunable, well-characterized systems that will allow for a better understanding of these phenomena in the future.