Elsevier

Polymer

Volume 55, Issue 2, 30 January 2014, Pages 453-464
Polymer

Feature article
Polymeric supramolecular assemblies based on multivalent ionic interactions for biomedical applications

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2013.12.038Get rights and content

Abstract

Oppositely charged polyelectrolytes can be used to form various types of self-assembled structures directed by multivalent ionic interactions. The supramolecular architectures that result are often referred to as polyion complexes (PICs). Synthetic polyion complexes are exciting candidates for biomedical applications. Their self-assembly capabilities give rise to hierarchical mesoscopic platforms such as micelles, membranes, and capsules through simple mixing processes. These complexes are also ideal candidates for the transport and delivery of biological agents since biomolecules, such as DNA and proteins can be easily incorporated through ionic interactions. PICs have therefore found use in drug delivery, diagnostics, gene therapy, biosensors and microreactors. In this paper, we briefly review examples of polymeric supramolecular assemblies based on multivalent ionic interactions for biomedical applications.

Keywords

Polyion complex
Self-assembly
Polyelectrolyte
Micelle
Layer-by-layer
Capsule

Cited by (0)

Hongsik Yoon graduated from Yonsei University in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science Honors degree in Chemistry. In 2009, he joined the laboratory of Prof. Woo-Dong Jang in the Department of Chemistry at Yonsei University as a PhD student. His research interests are self-assembled supramolecular system, chemical sensor, and functional organic materials.

Emma Dell received her MChem from Oxford University in 2007, spending her fourth year research project under the supervision of Dr Christiane Timmel. She then completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at King's College London (2008), and spent two years teaching Chemistry in secondary state schools. In 2010 she started her PhD at Columbia University under the supervision of Prof. Luis Campos. She is an American–Australian Association Fellow, a Dow Chemical Company Foundation Fellow and an HHMI International Fellow. Her research interests include synthesis of oligomers and polymers for electronic applications.

Jessica Freyer graduated from Wake Forest University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science Honors degree in Chemistry. She worked in the laboratory of Prof. Ronald Noftle carrying out research on small molecules and oligomers for organic electronics. She began her PhD at Columbia University in the fall of 2013 and joined Prof. Luis Campos's group. She is interested in polyelectrolytes for energy-related applications.

Luis M. Campos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University (joined in 2011). His group's research interests lie in polymer chemistry and directed self-assembly, with an emphasis on understanding semiconducting polymers and biomaterials at the molecular level. Luis was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and moved at an early age to Los Angeles, where he began his Californian public education in middle school. He received a B.Sc. in Chemistry from CSU Dominguez Hills in 2001, and a Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at UCLA in 2006 working under the supervision of M. A. Garcia-Garibay and K. N. Houk. At UCLA, he was awarded the NSF Predoctoral Fellowship, Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship, and the Saul & Silvia Winstein Award for his graduate research in solid-state photochemistry. Switching to materials chemistry, he went to UCSB as a UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow to work under the supervision of C. J. Hawker at the Materials Research Laboratory, exploring thiol-ene click chemistry in polymer-based applications.

Woo-Dong Jang is an associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Yonsei University, Korea. He received his Ph.D. in 2003 from the Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology at The University of Tokyo under supervision of Prof. Takuzo Aida. During his Ph.D. program, he is fully supported by Japanese Government Scholarship. From 2003 to 2005, he worked as a postdoctoral scientist under the supervision of Prof. Kazunori Kataoka at the Department of Materials Engineering, The University of Tokyo. From 2005, he was promoted to an Assistant Professor at the same department. He joined the Department of Chemistry at Yonsei University in 2006. His research interests are polymeric supramolecular chemistry, and functional biomaterials.

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