Development of stabilized environmentally sensitive polymeric nanoparticles

研究问题：纳米颗粒作为载体将疏水分子运送到目标位置已被广泛探索。疏水分子不容易在水中分散，可以聚集，因此影响了它们的功效。纳米粒子克服了这一挑战，为疏水有效载荷提供了疏水核心，同时提供了亲水性外壳，促进了在水溶液中的自由分散。纳米颗粒提供了额外的好处，通过包裹货物来提高有效载荷的稳定性，以避免在目的地之前与不稳定剂发生不利接触。最近，在开发环境敏感纳米颗粒方面取得了进展，这些纳米颗粒可以对环境刺激做出反应，释放其有效载荷，环境刺激可以是化学刺激(pH、氧化还原)或物理刺激(温度、光)。提高纳米粒子的稳定性和加载效率是各种应用中的一个关键考虑因素。 建议研究：我的工作旨在开发对环境敏感的合成聚合物纳米颗粒。它们保持稳定，直到它们暴露在以低pH、高还原电位或温度变化为特征的环境中。这些纳米颗粒将作为生物活性物质的载体、治疗疾病或作为生物传感器监测生物过程，具有潜在的应用前景。 该计划的目标是为具有环境敏感性的稳定纳米粒子设计生物聚合物。将合成具有疏水核和亲水壳的聚合物纳米颗粒。氧化还原、pH和温度敏感性将引入到聚合物中。其基本原理是，纳米颗粒可以被设计为在以预先编程的方式暴露于其中一个或几个刺激时有效地释放其货物。例如，由于细胞内环境中的低pH值和高水平的还原剂，对pH和氧化还原的敏感性可以促进货物在细胞内的输送。此外，温度的变化会导致纳米颗粒的形态发生变化，从而促进货物的释放。这项拟议的研究还将通过研究不同的交联方法并比较它们对稳定性和有效载荷释放的影响来提高纳米颗粒的稳定性。为了研究疏水性对包封率的影响，我们将研究不同的疏水分子链，并评估由此产生的负载效率。 预期结果：该研究计划将优化作为化学试剂载体的聚合物纳米颗粒的结构和性能，并将促进我们对具有环境敏感性的功能聚合物的了解。这项研究有可能通过开发丰富的新材料来促进加拿大纳米材料产业的发展。拟议的计划将为HQP提供不同级别的尖端培训。

Research Problem: Nanoparticles have been extensively explored as carriers to deliver hydrophobic molecules to targeted locations. Hydrophobic molecules do not disperse easily in water and can aggregate, thereby compromising their efficacy. Nanoparticles overcome this challenge by offering a hydrophobic core for hydrophobic payloads, while providing a hydrophilic shell that promotes free dispersion in aqueous solution. Nanoparticles offer the additional benefit to improve payload stability by encapsulating cargos to avoid adverse contact with destabilizing agents before their destination. Recently, progress has been made in developing environmentally sensitive nanoparticles that release their payloads in response to environmental stimuli, which can be either chemical (pH, redox) or physical (temperature, light). Improving the stability and loading efficiency of nanoparticles is a key consideration for a variety of applications. Proposed Research: My work is aimed at developing synthetic polymeric nanoparticles that are environmentally sensitive. They remain stable until they are exposed to an environment characterized by low pH, a high reducing potential or a temperature change. These nanoparticles will have potential applications as carriers of bioactive agents to treat diseases or to monitor biological processes as a biosensor. The goal of the proposed program is to design biopolymers for stabilized nanoparticles with environmental sensitivities. Polymeric nanoparticles will be synthesized with a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic shell. Redox, pH, and temperature sensitivities will be introduced into the polymers. The rationale is that the nanoparticles can be designed to efficiently release their cargos upon exposure to one or several of these stimuli in a pre-programmed manner. For example, pH and redox sensitivities can facilitate intracellular delivery of cargos due to the low pH value and high level of reducing agents in the intracellular environment. In addition, temperature change can lead to a morphology change of nanoparticles that can promote cargo release. The proposed research will also improve the stability of nanoparticles by studying different crosslinking methods and comparing their effects on stability and payload release. In order to study the effects of hydrophobicity on encapsulation, we will study different hydrophobic molecular chains and assess the resulting loading efficiency. Expected Outcome: The research program will optimize the structure and performance of polymeric nanoparticles as carriers of chemical agents, and will also advance our knowledge of functional polymers with environmental sensitivities. This research has the potential to promote the growth of the Canadian Nanomaterials Industry by developing a wealth of new materials. The proposed program will provide cutting edge training for HQP at different levels.