Polymeric Materials Synthesis and Characterization

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Project Summary The Polymeric Materials Synthesis and Characterizations Core will formulate, synthesize, and characterize lead candidates for the mitigation of mustards and provide support and chemical expertise to other cores and projects. The Core will be co-directed by Drs. Nathan Gianneschi (Dept. of Chemistry) and Stephen Miller (Dept. of Microbiology-Immunology). A tiered approach will be taken to select and optimize such candidates. Initially properties that enhance the efficacy of the materials would be determined and physiochemical analysis on the materials of interest would be probed. One such example is our ability to enrich materials for radical scavenging at the chemical doping level. Other properties would include surface charge, porosity, binding capacity, and solubility of materials. Depending on the material and application for the skin or eyes, the candidate material will be formulated as a nanoparticle, or as a surface coating and the delivery could be optimized for its specific application. That is, materials can be prepared for delivery via direct application as a liquid solution or cast into a film or in the case of PLGA Immune Modifying Particles (PLGA-IMPs) for intravenous infusion. After initial in vitro and in vivo studies, materials will be scaled-up for clinical trials, with many of the proposed systems already known to be amenable to that kind of scale-up. The Polymeric Materials Synthesis and Characterizations Core will be responsible for advancing the synthesis of materials such as polymers from small molecules, will make chemical modifications to improve lead compounds/materials, and will synthesize components for the Lipid- Based Self-Assembled Materials Synthesis and Characterization Core. The goals of this core are to develop formulations and delivery platforms for lead candidates such as melanin, biodegradable polymeric PLGA IMPs (which will be further modified by encapsulating anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10 and TGF-β) and compounds (e.g. Vitamin D), and peptide-based delivery systems for the skin and eyes by modifying their physiochemical properties and by characterizing materials for scale-up and clinical translation. For the Polymeric Materials Synthesis and Characterizations Core we propose the following Aims: Aim 1: Utilizing melanin for the remediation and adsorption of mustards; Aim 2: Protein-Like Polymers for treatment of mustard gas in the eye; and Aim 3: Production and characterization of negatively-charged, biodegradable PLGA Immune-Modifying Nanoparticles (PLGA-IMPs) for therapeutic treatment of chemical tissue injury.