• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2011.05a
• /
• pp.10.2-10.2
• /
• 2011

The design and synthesis of protein-like polymers is a fundamental challenge in materials science. A biomimetic approach is to explore the impact of monomer sequence on non-natural polymer structure and function. We present the aqueous self-assembly of two peptoid polymers into extremely thin two-dimensional (2D) crystalline sheets directed by periodic amphiphilicity, electrostatic recognition and aromatic interactions. Peptoids are sequence-specific, oligo-N-substituted glycine polymers designed to mimic the structure and functionality of proteins. Mixing a 1:1 ratio of two oppositely charged peptoid 36 mers of a specific sequence in aqueous solution results in the formation of giant, free-floating sheets with only 2.7 nm thickness. Direct visualization of aligned individual peptoid chains in the sheet structure was achieved using aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy. Specific binding of a protein to ligand-functionalized sheets was also demonstrated. The synthetic flexibility and biocompatibility of peptoids provide a flexible and robust platform for integrating functionality into defined 2D nanostructures. In the later part of my talk, we describe the use of metal ions to construct two-dimensional hybrid films that have the ability to self-heal. Incubation of biomimetic peptoid polymers with specific divalent metal ions results in the spontaneous formation of uniform multilayers at the air-water interface. We anticipate that ease of synthesis and transfer of these two-dimensional materials may have many potential applications in catalysis, gas storage and sensing, optics, nanomaterial synthesis, and environmentally responsive scaffolds.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2006.10a
• /
• pp.216-216
• /
• 2006

A special group of polymers, those from renewable resources, has attracted an increasing amount of attention over the last two decades, due to two major reasons: environmental concerns and the limitations of our finite petroleum resources. Generally, polymers from renewable resources (PFRR) can be classified into three groups: (1) natural polymers, such as starch, protein and cellulose; (2) synthetic polymers from natural monomers, such as polylactic acid (PLA); and (3) polymers from microbial fermentation, such as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). Like many other petroleum based polymers, various properties of PFRR are also vastly improved through blending and composites formation.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.465-468
• /
• 1995

Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization in mass spectrometry is a fast and accurate method to determine the molecular weight of natural and synthetic polymers. Unknown peptides such as elastase inhibitor and $\small{D}$-hydantoinase were analyzed using sinapinic acid as matrix and their molecular weights were compared with the results from protein sequencer and gel filtration chomatography, respectively. Synthetic polymers such as polyethyleneglycol, polypropyleneglycol, polydimethylsiloxane, and polystyrene were analyzed using matrices such as 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hdroxyazobenzenecarboxylic acid, and 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether. Average molecular weights of polystyrene were compared with molecular weights by gel permeation chromatography.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.60-66
• /
• 2000

Coating immobilization is the process by which the wet coating applied to paper or paperboard reaches the final form. A coating immobilization point is defined as the solids content reached during drying where no further redistribution of coating materials occurs. Good control of coating immobilization is important in producing coated paper and paperboard with consistent high quality. This paper discusses the technical concepts of how coatings immobilize, and describes the importance of good immobilization control on coating holdout and coating structure. The use of soy protein polymers to modify the coating immobilization point is discussed. Soy proteins, because of their interaction with coating pigments, make a significant contribution to the immobilization characteristics of coastings. This technology gives the formulator options for changing the immobilization point to improve the performance of the coating. The importance of immobilization on casting uniformity, microporosity and sheet qualities is discussed, including binder migration, mottle, gluing, and print quality.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.34 no.9
• /
• pp.2589-2593
• /
• 2013

Gene therapy using nonviral gene delivery carriers has focused on the development and modification of synthetic carriers such as liposomes and polymers. Most polymers that are commercially used are taking advantage of their polycationic character which allows not only strong ligand-DNA affinity but also competent cell penetration. Despite the relatively high transfection efficiencies, high cytotoxicity is continuously pointed out as one of the major shortcomings of polycationic polymers such as PEI. Studies on the utilization of peptides have therefore been carried out recently to overcome these problems. For these reasons, the human transcription factor Hph-1, which is currently known as a protein transduction domain (PTD), was investigated in this study to evaluate its potential as a gene delivery carrier. Although its transfection efficiency was about 10-fold lower than PEI, it displayed almost no cytotoxicity even at concentrations as high as $100{\mu}M$. Hph-1 was oxidatively polymerized to yield poly-Hph-1. The cell viability of poly-Hph-1 transfected U87MG and NIH-3T3 cells was almost as high as the control (untreated) groups, and the transfection efficiency was about 10-fold higher than PEI. This study serves as a preliminary evaluation of Hph-1 and encourages further investigation.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.424-429
• /
• 2009

In this study, we demonstrate that the biological unnatural amino acid incorporation method can be utilized in vivo to synthesize an alkyne-terminated telechelic protein, Synthesis of terminally-functionalized polymers such as telechelic polymers is recognized to be important, since they can be employed usefully in many areas of biology and material science, such as drug delivery, colloidal dispersion, surface modification, and formation of polymer network. The introduction of alkyne groups into polymeric material is particularly interesting since the alkyne group can be a linker to combine other materials using click chemistry. To synthesize the telechelic recombinant protein, we attempted to incorporate the L-homopropargylglycine into the recombinant GroES fragment by expressing the recombinant gene encoding Met at the codons for both N- and C-terminals of the protein in the Met auxotrophic E. coli via Hpg supplementation. The Hpg incorporation rate was investigated and the incorporation was confirmed by MALDI-TOF analysis of the telcchelic recombinant protein.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.17 no.12
• /
• pp.935-942
• /
• 2009

Silk is a textile material, as well as one of the oldest biomaterials. However, the recent progress of biomedical science and technology has led to the replacement of silk by various biomaterials based on synthetic polymers. Despite the wide variety of biomaterials available, these materials suffer certain limitations that prevent them from meeting the various demands of the medical field. Therefore, silk continues to attract considerable interest as a promising biomaterial. This paper explains the fundamentals of silk protein, and reviews the many applications of silk biomedical polymers.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.103-120
• /
• 2010

Surface modification of microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes has been widely used to improve the protein adsorption resistance and permeation properties of hydrophobic membranes. Several surface modification methods for converting conventional membranes into low-protein-binding membranes are reviewed. They are categorized as either physical modification or chemical modification of the membrane surface. Physical modification of the membrane surface can be achieved by coating it with hydrophilic polymers, hydrophilic-hydrophobic copolymers, surfactants or proteins. Another method of physical modification is plasma treatment with gases. A hydrophilic membrane surface can be also generated during phase-inverted micro-separation during membrane formation, by blending hydrophilic or hydrophilic-hydrophobic polymers with a hydrophobic base membrane polymer. The most widely used method of chemical modification is surface grafting of a hydrophilic polymer by UV polymerization because it is the easiest method; the membranes are dipped into monomers with and without photo-initiators, then irradiated with UV. Plasma-induced polymerization of hydrophilic monomers on the surface is another popular method, and surface chemical reactions have also been developed by several researchers. Several important examples of physical and chemical modifications of membrane surfaces for low-protein-binding are summarized in this article.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2006.10a
• /
• pp.42-43
• /
• 2006

We have prepared random, block and graft copolymers with single or dual sensitivities to various stimuli. We have conjugated these polymers to proteins at random lysine sites or at specific sites designed into the protein by genetic engineering. We are also grafting the smart polymers to the surfaces of nanobeads. We are applying these smart conjugates and smart nanobeads in microfluidic devices for various applications, including diagnostics, affinity separations and enzyme bioprocesses. In this talk I will update our work with these interesting hybrid systems.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.78-78
• /
• 2016

For the past three decades, extensive research has been performed in the surface design of new polymers for a variety of medical applications. Great progress in therapeutics and diagnostics can be attributed to these scientific advances in biomedical polymers. A variety of bioinert materials or bioactive materials using drugs, cells, and growth factors are widely utilized for the implants, devices and tissue regeneration. These materials provide an improved biocompatible materials to host, to significantly decrease or increase the host/tissue/blood response to the foreign materials. In the future, biomaterials will play a different role in modern therapeutics. New materials will be tailored to interact more on a protein and cellular level to achieve high degree of biocompatibility, biospecificity and bioacitivity. In this presentation, various biocompatible materials based on surface/bulk engineering will be demonstrated, which can be utilized as therapeutics implants and therapeutic vehicles for biologically active molecules such as cell, protein /peptide and gene.