Specialized iNANO Lecture: Biotemplated Polymer Synthesis

Professor Tanja Weil, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany

Info about event

Time

Monday 22 January 2018,  at 10:15 - 11:00

Location

iNANO AUD (1593-012), Gustav Wieds Vej 14, 8000 Aarhus C

Professor Tanja Weil

Professor Dr. Tanja Weil
Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Germany

Biotemplated Polymer Synthesis

Macromolecular chemistry provides a rich research area with many synthetic challenges that still need to be solved to create materials with entirely novel functions. The implementation of distinct sequences, defined lengths and precisely controlled 3D shapes and architectures is emerging and there has been great progress recently. Our approaches to solving such challenges will be presented first focusing on the synthesis of precision polymeric architectures based on body’s own biomaterials as templates and scaffolds [1,2].

The synergistic combination of polymer chemistry and biopolymer research provides hybrid macromolecules of high structure definition with many attractive features. As examples, we have combined polypeptide scaffolds of proteins and polymers to achieve precise polymer brushes as drug transporters. Merging polymer synthesis with the DNA origami technique has resulted in “polymer origami” structures with distinct architectures and shapes that could allow fabricating patterned polymers with low nanometer resolution and open access to unique DNA-based functional hybrid materials [3-5]. In this way, distinct polydopamine nanostructures have been accomplished for the first time, which retained their shapes after removal of the DNA template. We envision that biotemplated polymer synthesis allows creating unique polymeric architectures with high structural control that could even exert catalytic functions in living cellular environments.

 

References

[1] Y. Wu, S. Chakrabortty, R.A. Gropeanu, J. Wilhelmi, Y. Xu, K.S. Er, S.L. Kuan, K. Koynov, Y. Chan, T. Weil. pH-responsive quantum dots via an albumin-polymer surface coating. J. Am. Chem Soc. 132, 14, 5012–5014 (2010).

[2] D.Y.W. Ng, Y. Wu, S.L. Kuan, T. Weil. Programming Supramolecular Biohybrids as Precision Therapeutics. Acc. Chem. Res. 47, 12, 3471-3480 (2014).

[3] Y. Tokura, Y. Jiang, A. Welle, M.H. Stenzel, J. Michaelis, C. Barner-Kowollik, Y. Wu, T. Weil. Bottom-up fabrication of nano-patterned polymers on DNA origami nanotile by in-situ atom transfer radical polymerization. Angew. Chem. 55, 19, 5692-5697 (2016).

[4] Y. Tokura, S. Harvey, R. Berger, Y. Wu, D.Y.W. Ng, T. Weil. DNAzyme-assisted fabrication of defined polydopamine nanostructures on DNA Origami. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Doi: 10.1002/anie.201711560 (2017).

 

[5] Y. Tokura, S. Harvey, X. Xu, C. Chen, C. Rosenauer, S. Morsbach, K. Wunderlich, G. Fytas, Y. Wu, D.Y.W. Ng, T. Weil. Polymer tube nanoreactors by DNA-origami templated synthesis. In review (2018).

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