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Incorporation of Synthetic Polypeptides in Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Films
Synthetic polypeptides have attracted much interest for biomedical
engineering applications due to their ability to serve as structural
mimics to natural biomacromolecules. The capability to tightly control
the dimensions, structure and active functional groups of these
polypeptides enables their use in a wide range of biological
applications. Moreover, incorporation of these syhnthetic polypepetides
in multilayer layer-by-layer polyelectrolyte films facilitates the
integration of tunable, synthetic biomacromolecules into multilayer
films. We are investigating the fundamental behavior of polypeptide comb
polymers within polyelectrolyte multilayers. By exploiting the ability
of the synthetic polypeptide poly(γ-propargyl-L-glutamate) (PPLG) to
achieve side chain grafting densities of ~100%, we have synthesized a
wide range of polypeptide comb polymer architectures. The ability to
efficiently graft various functional groups to the PPLG backbone endows
the polymer with incredible functionality, since the dimensions and
charge along the polymer backbone can be tightly controlled. Therefore,
by controlling the charge along the PPLG backbone, the PPLG structure
can be engineered to permit incorporation into polyelectrolyte
multilayer films. The dependence of layer-by-layer film incorporation on
polypeptide architecture and deposition conditions will be useful in
integrating more complex polypeptide and comb polymer architectures into
polyelectrolyte multilayer films. |
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