Resolving the structure of dendritic carbohydrate-based nanoparticles

世界对绿色、可持续的生物材料的需求急剧增加，以提高功能性食品、营养保健品、药品和个人护理产品的性能。PhytoSpherix（TM）就是这样一种材料，一种全天然的高科技添加剂，可以为这些市场中的许多 ** 产品增加价值。PhytoSpherix由纳米颗粒组成，这些纳米颗粒由许多葡萄糖（糖）分子以分支方式连接在一起制成。它们本质上是微小的淀粉球，在植物中作为能量储存的一种形式。因此，他们不仅是生物降解，但生物相容性-他们摄入 ** 当一个吃甜玉米！PhystoSpherix颗粒具有许多有用的特性，例如吸收和保留大量水的能力，以及在用作添加剂时改变液体粘度的能力。然而，由于它们非常小和柔软，很难通过实验解决纳米颗粒的结构细节。在 ** 这个资助中，我们将使用计算机模拟来生长、模拟和表征粒子结构。虽然 ** 粒子很小（大约50纳米），但它们仍然由许多原子组成，这使得详细的 ** 模拟非常困难。因此，我们将在两个不同的层次上采用粗粒度方法来模拟 ** 纳米颗粒：一种非常粗粒度的方法，其中每个葡萄糖分子被建模为一个珠子，另一种基于原子的粗粒度方法保留了葡萄糖的一些化学特征。除了表征结构外，我们还将在两个层面上使用建模来探索颗粒内小分子的动力学。将这些不同水平的结果结合起来，将使人们对碳水化合物基树枝状材料的性质有一个基本的了解，这将在聚合物科学和生物纳米材料领域具有重要价值。这项工作是与Mirexus Biotechnologies** 合作进行的，所产生的知识将为开发PhytoSpherix颗粒的新应用 ** 提供重要信息，如药物和补充剂输送。这将推动Mirexus作为一家加拿大研究密集型公司的发展，该公司雇用高素质的科学和工程人员。

There is a dramatically increasing world demand for green, sustainable biomaterials to enhance the**performance of functional foods, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products.**PhytoSpherix(TM) is one such material, an all-natural, high-tech additive which can add value to many**products in each of these markets. PhytoSpherix is comprised of nanoparticles made from joining many**glucose (sugar) molecules together in a branching fashion. They are essentially tiny balls of starch that serve as**a form of energy storage in plants. They are thus not only biodegradable but biocompatible - they are ingested**when one eats sweet corn! PhystoSpherix particles have many useful properties such as the ability to absorb**and retain a great deal of water and to modify the viscosity of a liquid when used as an additive. However, as**they are very small and soft, it is difficult to resolve the structural details of the nanoparticles experimentally. In**this grant we will use computer simulations to grow, simulate, and characterize the particle structure. Although**the particles are small (on the order of 50 nm), they are still comprised of many atoms making detailed**simulations very difficult. We will thus employ coarse-grained approaches at two different levels to model the**nanoparticles: a very coarse-grained approach in which each glucose molecule is modeled as one bead and an**atomistic-based coarse-grained approach that retains some of the chemical features of glucose. In addition to**characterizing the structure, we will also use modeling at both levels to explore the dynamics of small**molecules within the particles. Combining results across these different levels will give both fundamental**insight into the nature of carbohydrate-bases dendritic materials which will be of great value in the fields of**polymer science and bio-nanomaterials. This work is performed in collaboration with Mirexus Biotechnologies**and the knowledge that is generated will provide essential information for the development of new applications**of PhytoSpherix particles such as drug and supplement delivery. This will fuel the growth of Mirexus as a**Canadian research intensive company that hires highly qualified scientific and engineering personnel.