Search

Multivalent glycosylated materials (polymers, surfaces, and particles) often show high affinity toward carbohydrate binding proteins (e.g., lectins) due to the nonlinear enhancement from the cluster glycoside effect. This affinity gain has potential in applications from diagnostics, biosensors, and targeted delivery to anti-infectives and in an understanding of basic glycobiology. This perspective highlights the question of selectivity, which is less often addressed due to the reductionist nature of glycomaterials and the promiscuity of many lectins. The use of macromolecular features, including architecture, heterogeneous ligand display, and the installation of non-natural glycans, to address this challenge is discussed, and examples of selectivity gains are given.\ud \ud

The COVID-19 pandemic, and future pandemics, require diagnostic tools to track disease spread and guide the isolation of (a)symptomatic individuals. Lateral-flow diagnostics (LFDs) are rapid and of lower cost than molecular (genetic) tests, with current LFDs using antibodies as their recognition units. Herein, we develop a prototype flow-through device (related, but distinct to LFDs), utilizing N-acetyl neuraminic acid-functionalized, polymer-coated, gold nanoparticles as the detection/capture unit for SARS-COV-2, by targeting the sialic acid-binding site of the spike protein. The prototype device can give rapid results, with higher viral loads being faster than lower viral loads. The prototype’s effectiveness is demonstrated using spike protein, lentiviral models, and a panel of heat-inactivated primary patient nasal swabs. The device was also shown to retain detection capability toward recombinant spike proteins from several variants (mutants) of concern. This study provides the proof of principle that glyco-lateral-flow devices could be developed to be used in the tracking monitoring of infectious agents, to complement, or as alternatives to antibody-based systems.\ud \ud

Lateral flow devices are rapid (and often low cost) point-of-care diagnostics─the classic example being the home pregnancy test. A test line (the stationary phase) is typically prepared by the physisorption of an antibody, which binds to analytes/antigens such as viruses, toxins, or hormones. However, there is no intrinsic requirement for the detection unit to be an antibody, and incorporating other ligand classes may bring new functionalities or detection capabilities. To enable other (nonprotein) ligands to be deployed in lateral flow devices, they must be physiosorbed to the stationary phase as a conjugate, which currently would be a high-molecular-weight carrier protein, which requires (challenging) chemoselective modifications and purification. Here, we demonstrate that poly(vinylpyrrolidone), PVP, is a candidate for a polymeric, protein-free test line, owing to its unique balance of water solubility (for printing) and adhesion to the nitrocellulose stationary phase. End-functionalized PVPs were prepared by RAFT polymerization, and the model capture ligands of biotin and galactosamine were installed on PVP and subsequently immobilized on nitrocellulose. This polymeric test line was validated in both flow-through and full lateral flow formats using streptavidin and soybean agglutinin and is the first demonstration of an “all-polymer” approach for installation of capture units. This work illustrates the potential of polymeric scaffolds as anchoring agents for small-molecule capture agents in the next generation of robust and modular lateral flow devices and that macromolecular engineering may provide real benefit.\ud \ud

Many commercial plasticizers are toxic endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are added to plastics during manufacturing and may leach out once they reach the environment. Traditional phthalic acid ester plasticizers (PAEs), such as dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and bis(2-ethyl hexyl) phthalate (DEHP), are now increasingly being replaced with more environmentally friendly alternatives, such as acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC). While the metabolic pathways for PAE degradation have been established in the terrestrial environment, to our knowledge, the mechanisms for ATBC biodegradation have not been identified previously and plasticizer degradation in the marine environment remains underexplored. From marine plastic debris, we enriched and isolated microbes able to grow using a range of plasticizers and, for the first time, identified the pathways used by two phylogenetically distinct bacteria to degrade three different plasticizers (i.e., DBP, DEHP, and ATBC) via a comprehensive proteogenomic and metabolomic approach. This integrated multi-OMIC study also revealed the different mechanisms used for ester side-chain removal from the different plasticizers (esterases and enzymes involved in the β-oxidation pathway) as well as the molecular response to deal with toxic intermediates, that is, phthalate, and the lower biodegrading potential detected for ATBC than for PAE plasticizers. This study highlights the metabolic potential that exists in the biofilms that colonize plastics—the Plastisphere—to effectively biodegrade plastic additives and flags the inherent importance of microbes in reducing plastic toxicity in the environment.

Gold nanorods (GNRs) are a promising platform for nanoplasmonic biosensing. The localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peak of GNRs is located in the near-infrared optical window and is sensitive to local binding events, enabling label-free detection of biomarkers in complex biological fluids. A key challenge in the development of such sensors is achieving target affinity and selectivity, while both minimizing non-specific binding and maintaining colloidal stability. Herein, we reveal how GNRs decorated with galactosamine-terminated polymer ligands display significantly different binding responses in buffer compared to serum, due to biocorona formation, and how biocorona displacement due to lectin binding plays a key role in their optical responses. GNRs were coated with either poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide) (PHPMA) or poly(N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide) (PHEA) prepared via reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerisation and end-functionalised with galactosamine (Gal) as the lectin-targeting unit. In buffer Gal-PHEA-coated GNRs aggregated upon soybean agglutinin (SBA) addition, whereas Gal-PHPMA-coated GNRs exhibited a red-shift of the LSPR spectrum without aggregation. In contrast, when incubated in serum Gal-PHPMA-coated nanorods showed no binding response, while Gal-PHEA GNRs exhibited a dose-dependent blue-shift of the LSPR peak, which is the opposite direction (red-shift) to what was observed in buffer. This differential behaviour was attributed to biocorona formation onto both polymer-coated GNRs, shown by differential centrifugal sedimentation and nanoparticle tracking analysis. Upon addition of SBA to the Gal-PHEA coated nanorods, signal was generated due to displacement of weakly-bound biocorona components by lectin binding. However, in the case of Gal-PHPMA which had a thicker corona, attributed to lower polymer grafting densities, addition of SBA did not lead to biocorona displacement and there was no signal output. These results show that plasmonic optical responses in complex biological media can be significantly affected by biocorona formation, and that biocorona formation itself does not prevent sensing so long as its exact nature (e.g. ‘hard versus soft’) is tuned., Glycosylated gold nanorods are shown to have distinct binding responses in buffer, compared to serum, due to the formation of a biocorona which is displaced during lectin binding.

From trauma wards to chemotherapy, red blood cells are essential in modern medicine. Current methods to bank red blood cells typically use glycerol (40 wt %) as a cryoprotective agent. Although highly effective, the deglycerolization process, post-thaw, is time-consuming and results in some loss of red blood cells during the washing procedures. Here, we demonstrate that a polyampholyte, a macromolecular cryoprotectant, synergistically enhances ovine red blood cell cryopreservation in a mixed cryoprotectant system. Screening of DMSO and trehalose mixtures identified optimized conditions, where cytotoxicity was minimized but cryoprotective benefit maximized. Supplementation with polyampholyte allowed 97% post-thaw recovery (3% hemolysis), even under extremely challenging slow-freezing and -thawing conditions. Post-thaw washing of the cryoprotectants was tolerated by the cells, which is crucial for any application, and the optimized mixture could be applied directly to cells, causing no hemolysis after 1 h of exposure. The procedure was also scaled to use blood bags, showing utility on a scale relevant for application. Flow cytometry and adenosine triphosphate assays confirmed the integrity of the blood cells post-thaw. Microscopy confirmed intact red blood cells were recovered but with some shrinkage, suggesting that optimization of post-thaw washing could further improve this method. These results show that macromolecular cryoprotectants can provide synergistic benefit, alongside small molecule cryoprotectants, for the storage of essential cell types, as well as potential practical benefits in terms of processing/handling.\ud \ud

The cryopreservation of cells underpins many areas of biotechnology, healthcare, and fundamental science by enabling the banking and distribution of cells. Cryoprotectants are essential to prevent cold-induced damage. Here, we demonstrate that extracellular localization of antifreeze proteins can significantly enhance post-thaw recovery of mammalian cell monolayers cryopreserved using dimethyl sulfoxide, whereas they show less benefit in suspension cryopreservation. A type III antifreeze protein (AFPIII) was used as the macromolecular ice recrystallization inhibitor and its intra/extracellular locations were controlled by using Pep-1, a cell-penetrating peptide. Flow cytometry and confocal microscopy confirmed successful delivery of AFPIII. The presence of extracellular AFPIII dramatically increased post-thaw recovery in a challenging 2-D cell monolayer system using just 0.8 mg·mL–1, from 25% to over 60%, whereas intracellularly delivered AFPIII showed less benefit. Interestingly, the antifreeze protein was less effective when used in suspension cryopreservation of the same cells, suggesting that the cryopreservation format is also crucial. These observations show that, in the discovery of macromolecular cryoprotectants, intracellular delivery of ice recrystallization inhibitors may not be a significant requirement under “slow freezing” conditions, which will help guide the design of new biomaterials, in particular, for cell storage.

The storage and transport of frozen cells underpin the emerging/existing cell-based therapies and are used in every biomedical research lab globally. The current gold-standard cryoprotectant dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) does not give quantitative cell recovery in suspension or in two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) cell models, and the solvent and cell debris must be removed prior to application/transfusion. There is a real need to improve this 50-year-old method to underpin emerging regenerative and cell-based therapies. Here, we introduce a potent and synthetically scalable polymeric cryopreservation enhancer which is easily obtained in a single step from a low cost and biocompatible precursor, poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic anhydride). This poly(ampholyte) enables post-thaw recoveries of up to 88% for a 2D cell monolayer model compared to just 24% using conventional DMSO cryopreservation. The poly(ampholyte) also enables reduction of [DMSO] from 10 wt % to just 2.5 wt % in suspension cryopreservation, which can reduce the negative side effects and speed up post-thaw processing. After thawing, the cells have reduced membrane damage and faster growth rates compared to those without the polymer. The polymer appears to function by a unique extracellular mechanism by stabilization of the cell membrane, rather than by modulation of ice formation and growth. This new macromolecular cryoprotectant will find applications across basic and translational biomedical science and may improve the cold chain for cell-based therapies.\ud \ud

Despite growing plastic discharge into the environment, researchers have struggled to detect expected increases of marine plastic debris in sea surfaces, sparking discussions about “missing plastics” and final sinks, which are hypothesized to be coastal and deep-sea sediments. While it holds true that the highest concentrations of plastic particles are found in these locations (103-104 particles m−3 in sediments vs. 0.1–1 particles m−3 in the water column), our meta-analysis also highlights that in open oceans, microplastic polymer types segregated in the water column according to their density. Lower density polymers, such as polypropylene and polyethylene, dominated sea surface samples (25% and 42%, respectively) but decreased in abundance through the water column (3% and 2% in the deep-sea, respectively), whereas only denser polymers (i.e. polyesters and acrylics) were enriched with depth (5% in surface seawater vs. 77% in deep-sea locations). Our meta-analysis demonstrates that some of the most abundant and recalcitrant manufactured plastics are more persistent in the sea surface than previously anticipated and that further research is required to determine the ultimate fate of these polymers as current knowledge does not support the deep sea as the final sink for all polymer types.

Innovative chemotherapeutic agents that are active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) are urgently required to control the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. The Mtb cell envelope has distinct (lipo)polysaccharides and glycolipids that play a critical role in Mtb survival and pathogenesis and disruption of pathways involved in the assembly of the Mtb cell envelope are the primary target of anti-tubercular agents. Here we introduce a previously unexplored approach whereby chemical agents directly target the extracellular glycans within the unique Mtb cell envelope, rather than the intracellular biosynthetic machinery. We designed and synthesised multimeric boronic acids that are selectivity lethal to Mtb and function by targeting these structurally unique and essential Mtb cell envelope glycans. By tuning the number of, and distance between, boronic acid units high selectivity to Mtb, low cytotoxicity against mammalian cells and no observable resistance was achieved. This non-conventional approach may prevent the development of drug-resistance and will act as a platform for the design of improved, pathogen-specific, next generation antibiotics.

Dimeric benzoboroxoles that are covalently linked by a short scaffold enhance selective anti-tubercular activity. These multimeric benzoboroxole compounds are capable of engaging the specific extracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis glycans, do not lead to the evolution of resistance and bypass the need to cross the impermeable mycobacterial cell envelope barrier.

Antifreeze-protein mimic polymers are shown to enable solvent-free storage of important proteins for therapy and biotechnology by modulating ice growth., Proteins are ubiquitous in molecular biotechnology, biotechnology and as therapeutics, but there are significant challenges in their storage and distribution, with freezing often required. This is traditionally achieved by the addition of cryoprotective agents such as glycerol (or trehalose) or covalent modification of mutated proteins with cryoprotectants. Here, ice recrystallization inhibiting polymers, inspired by antifreeze proteins, are used synergistically with poly(ethylene glycol) as an alternative to glycerol. The primary mechanism of action appears to be preventing irreversible aggregation due to ice growth. The polymer formulation is successfully used to cryopreserve a range of important proteins including insulin, Taq DNA polymerase and an IgG antibody. The polymers do not require covalent conjugation, nor modification of the protein and are already used in a wide range of biomedical applications, which will facilitate translation to a range of biologics.

Multivalent glycomaterials show high affinity toward lectins but are often nonselective as they lack the precise 3-D presentation found in native glycans. Here, thiolactone chemistry is exploited to enable the synthesis of glycopolymers with both a primary binding (galactose) and a variable secondary binding unit in close proximity to each other on the linker. These polymers are used to target the Cholera toxin B subunit, CTxB, inspired by its native branched glycan target, GM-1. The secondary, nonbinding unit was shown to dramatically modulate affinity and selectivity toward the Cholera toxin. These increasingly complex glycopolymers, assembled using accessible chemistry, can help breach the synthetic/biological divide to obtain future glycomimetics.

Extracellular polysaccharides are widely produced by bacteria, yeasts, and algae. These polymers are involved in several biological functions, such as bacteria adhesion to surface and biofilm formation, ion sequestering, protection from desiccation, and cryoprotection. The chemical characterization of these polymers is the starting point for obtaining relationships between their structures and their various functions. While this fundamental correlation is well reported and studied for the proteins, for the polysaccharides, this relationship is less intuitive. In this paper, we elucidate the chemical structure and conformational studies of a mannan exopolysaccharide from the permafrost isolated bacterium Psychrobacter arcticus strain 273-4. The mannan from the cold-adapted bacterium was compared with its dephosphorylated derivative and the commercial product from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Starting from the chemical structure, we explored a new approach to deepen the study of the structure/activity relationship. A pool of physicochemical techniques, ranging from small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and dynamic and static light scattering (DLS and SLS, respectively) to circular dichroism (CD) and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), have been used. Finally, the ice recrystallization inhibition activity of the polysaccharides was explored. The experimental evidence suggests that the mannan exopolysaccharide from P. arcticus bacterium has an efficient interaction with the water molecules, and it is structurally characterized by rigid-rod regions assuming a 14-helix-type conformation.

Synthetic macromolecular chemotherapeutics inspired by host defence peptides can disrupt cell membranes and are emerging as agents for the treatment of cancer and infections. However, their off-target effects remain a major unmet challenge. Here we introduce a covalent recruitment strategy, whereby metabolic oligosaccharide engineering is used to label targeted cells with azido glycans, to subsequently capture chemotherapeutic polymers by a bio-orthogonal click reaction. This results in up to 10-fold reduction in EC50 and widening of the therapeutic window. Cell death is induced by not only membrane leakage, but also by apoptosis due to the conjugated chemotherapeutic being internalised by glycan recycling. Covalent recruitment also lead to increased penetration and significant cell death in a 3-D tumour model in just 3 hours, whereas doxorubicin required 24 hours. This conceptual approach of ‘engineering cells to capture polymers’ rather than ‘engineering polymers to target cells’ will bring new opportunities in non-traditional macromolecular therapeutics., Chemotherapeutic polymers are targeted to cells by introduction of unnatural glycans to their glycocalyx, enhancing their cytotoxic effect.

Understanding the ice recrystallisation inhibition (IRI) activity of antifreeze biomimetics is crucial to the development of the next generation of cryoprotectants. In this work, we bring together molecular dynamics simulations and quantitative experimental measurements to unravel the microscopic origins of the IRI activity of poly(vinyl)alcohol (PVA)—the most potent of biomimetic IRI agents. Contrary to the emerging consensus, we find that PVA does not require a “lattice matching” to ice in order to display IRI activity: instead, it is the effective volume of PVA and its contact area with the ice surface which dictates its IRI strength. We also find that entropic contributions may play a role in the ice-PVA interaction and we demonstrate that small block co-polymers (up to now thought to be IRI-inactive) might display significant IRI potential. This work clarifies the atomistic details of the IRI activity of PVA and provides novel guidelines for the rational design of cryoprotectants., Understanding ice re-crystallization is key to improve the current cryopreservation technologies. Here, the authors bring together experiments and simulations to unravel the atomistic details of the ice re-crystallization inhibition (IRI) activity of poly(vinyl)alcohol—the most potent biomimetic IRI agent.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Poly(vinyl alcohol) allows solvent-free protein cryopreservation. • Lactate dehydrogenase and green fluorescent protein were both successful cryopreserved. • Poly(vinyl alcohol)-protein conjugates are synthesised and shown to be cryo-stable., Protein storage and transport is essential to deliver therapies (biologics), enzymes for biotechnological applications, and underpins fundamental structural and molecular biology. To enable proteins to be stored and transported it is often essential to freeze them, requiring cryoprotectants such as glycerol or trehalose. Here we explore the mechanisms by which poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA, a potent ice recrystallisation inhibitor protects proteins during freeze/thaw to enable solvent-free cryopreservation with a focus on comparing mixing, verses polymer-protein conjugation. A panel of poly(vinyl alcohol)s are investigated including commercial, well-defined (from RAFT), and PVA-protein conjugates, to map out PVA’s efficacy. Enzymatic activity recovery of lactate dehydrogenase was found to correlate with post-thaw aggregation state (less aggregated protein had greater activity), which was modulated by PVA’s ice recrystallisation inhibition activity. This macromolecular cryoprotectant matched the performance of glycerol, but at lower additive concentrations (as low as 1 mg.mL−1). It was also demonstrated that storage at −20 °C, rather than −80 °C was possible using PVA as a cryoprotectant, which is not possible with glycerol storage. A second protein, green-fluorescent protein (GFP), was used to enable screening of molecular weight effects and to obtain PVA-GFP bioconjugates. It was observed that covalent attachment of RAFT-derived PVA showed superior cryoprotectant activity compared to simple mixing of the polymer and protein. These results show that PVA is a real alternative to solvent-based protein storage with potential in biotechnology, food and therapeutics. PVA is already approved for many biomedical applications, is low cost and available on a large scale, making it an ideal cryoprotectant formulation enhancer.

There is an urgent need to understand the behavior of the novel coronavirus (SARS-COV-2), which is the causative agent of COVID-19, and to develop point-of-care diagnostics. Here, a glyconanoparticle platform is used to discover that N-acetyl neuraminic acid has affinity toward the SARS-COV-2 spike glycoprotein, demonstrating its glycan-binding function. Optimization of the particle size and coating enabled detection of the spike glycoprotein in lateral flow and showed selectivity over the SARS-COV-1 spike protein. Using a virus-like particle and a pseudotyped lentivirus model, paper-based lateral flow detection was demonstrated in under 30 min, showing the potential of this system as a low-cost detection platform., The spike-protein from SARS-COV-2 is shown to bind sialic acids, which is exploited to assemble a lateral flow diagnostic tool, using glycans rather than antibodies, as the recognition unit.

[Background] Plastics now pollute marine environments across the globe. On entering these environments, plastics are rapidly colonised by a diverse community of microorganisms termed the plastisphere. Members of the plastisphere have a myriad of diverse functions typically found in any biofilm but, additionally, a number of marine plastisphere studies have claimed the presence of plastic-biodegrading organisms, although with little mechanistic verification. Here, we obtained a microbial community from marine plastic debris and analysed the community succession across 6 weeks of incubation with different polyethylene terephthalate (PET) products as the sole carbon source, and further characterised the mechanisms involved in PET degradation by two bacterial isolates from the plastisphere., [Results] We found that all communities differed significantly from the inoculum and were dominated by Gammaproteobacteria, i.e. Alteromonadaceae and Thalassospiraceae at early time points, Alcanivoraceae at later time points and Vibrionaceae throughout. The large number of encoded enzymes involved in PET degradation found in predicted metagenomes and the observation of polymer oxidation by FTIR analyses both suggested PET degradation was occurring. However, we were unable to detect intermediates of PET hydrolysis with metabolomic analyses, which may be attributed to their rapid depletion by the complex community. To further confirm the PET biodegrading potential within the plastisphere of marine plastic debris, we used a combined proteogenomic and metabolomic approach to characterise amorphous PET degradation by two novel marine isolates, Thioclava sp. BHET1 and Bacillus sp. BHET2. The identification of PET hydrolytic intermediates by metabolomics confirmed that both isolates were able to degrade PET. High-throughput proteomics revealed that whilst Thioclava sp. BHET1 used the degradation pathway identified in terrestrial environment counterparts, these were absent in Bacillus sp. BHET2, indicating that either the enzymes used by this bacterium share little homology with those characterised previously, or that this bacterium uses a novel pathway for PET degradation., [Conclusions] Overall, the results of our multi-OMIC characterisation of PET degradation provide a significant step forwards in our understanding of marine plastic degradation by bacterial isolates and communities and evidences the biodegrading potential extant in the plastisphere of marine plastic debris., RW was supported by a Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership PhD scholarship via grant BB/M01116X/1, JC-O by the Natural Environment Research Council Independent Research Fellowship NE/K009044/1 and Ramón y Cajal contract RYC-2017-22452 (funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the National Agency of Research, and the European Social Fund), RB by the MINECO project CTM2015-70180-R (FEDER cofunding) and MIG by European Research Council grant 638631. This work was supported by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (project PID2019-109509RB-I00 / AEI / 10.13039/501100011033).

[Image: see text] Cell-surface functionality is largely programmed by genetically encoded information through modulation of protein expression levels, including glycosylation enzymes. Genetic tools enable control over protein-based functionality, but are not easily adapted to recruit non-native functionality such as synthetic polymers and nanomaterials to tune biological responses and attach therapeutic or imaging payloads. Similar to how polymer–protein conjugation evolved from nonspecific PEGylation to site-selective bioconjugates, the same evolution is now occurring for polymer–cell conjugation. This Viewpoint discusses the potential of using metabolic glycan labeling to install bio-orthogonal reactive cell-surface anchors for the recruitment of synthetic polymers and nanomaterials to cell surfaces, exploring the expanding therapeutic and diagnostic potential. Comparisons to conventional approaches that target endogenous membrane components, such as hydrophobic, protein coupling and electrostatic conjugation, as well as enzymatic and genetic tools, have been made to highlight the huge potential of this approach in the emerging cellular engineering field.

Chemical tools to modulate ice formation/growth have great (bio)- technological value, with ice binding/antifreeze proteins being exciting targets for biomimetic materials. Here we introduce polymer nanomaterials that are potent inhibitors of ice recrystallisation using polymerisation-induced self-assembly (PISA), employing a poly(vinyl alcohol) graft macromolecular chain transfer agent (macro-CTA). Crucially, engineering the core-forming block with diacetone acrylamide enabled PISA to be conducted in saline, whereas poly(2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate) cores led to coagulation. The most active particles inhibited ice growth as low as 0.5 mg mL1 , and were more active than the PVA stabiliser block alone, showing that the dense packing of this nanoparticle format enhanced activity. This provides a unique route towards colloids capable of modulating ice growth.

Glycan–lectin interactions drive a diverse range of biological signaling and recognition processes. The display of glycans in multivalent format enables their intrinsically weak binding affinity to lectins to be overcome by the cluster glycoside effect, which results in a non-linear increase in binding affinity. As many lectins have multiple binding sites, upon interaction with glycosylated nanomaterials either aggregation or surface binding without aggregation can occur. Depending on the application area, either one of these responses are desirable (or undesirable) but methods to tune the aggregation state, independently from the overall extent/affinity of binding are currently missing. Herein, we use gold nanoparticles decorated with galactose-terminated polymer ligands, obtained by photo-initiated RAFT polymerization to ensure high end-group fidelity, to show the dramatic impact on agglutination behaviour due to the chemistry of the polymer linker. Poly(N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide) (PHEA)-coated gold nanoparticles, a polymer widely used as a non-ionic stabilizer, showed preference for aggregation with lectins compared to poly(N-(2 hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide) (PHPMA)-coated nanoparticles which retained colloidal stability, across a wide range of polymer lengths and particle core sizes. Using biolayer interferometry, it was observed that both coatings gave rise to similar binding affinity and hence provided conclusive evidence that aggregation rate alone cannot be used to measure affinity between nanoparticle systems with different stabilizing linkers. This is significant, as turbidimetry is widely used to demonstrate glycomaterial activity, although this work shows the most aggregating may not be the most avid, when comparing different polymer backbones/coating. Overall, our findings underline the potential of PHPMA as the coating of choice for applications where aggregation upon lectin binding would be problematic, such asin vivoimaging or drug delivery.

Because of the emergence of antimicrobial resistance to traditional small-molecule drugs, cationic antimicrobial polymers are appealing targets. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a particular problem, with multi- and total drug resistance spreading and more than a billion latent infections globally. This study reports nanoparticles bearing variable densities of poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) and the unexpected and distinct mechanisms of action this multivalent presentation imparts against Escherichia coli versus Mycobacterium smegmatis (model of M. tuberculosis), leading to killing or growth inhibition, respectively. A convergent "grafting to" synthetic strategy was used to assemble a 50-member nanoparticle library, and using a high-throughput screen identified that only the smallest (2 nm) particles were stable in both saline and complex cell media. Compared with the linear polymers, the nanoparticles displayed two- and eight-fold enhancements in antimicrobial activity against M. smegmatis and E. coli, respectively. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that the antimicrobial particles were bactericidal against E. coli due to rapid disruption of the cell membranes. Conversely, against M. smegmatis the particles did not lyse the cell membrane but rather had a bacteriostatic effect. These results demonstrate that to develop new polymeric antituberculars the widely assumed, broad spectrum, membrane-disrupting mechanism of polycations must be re-evaluated. It is clear that synthetic nanomaterials can engage in more complex interactions with mycobacteria, which we hypothesize is due to the unique cell envelope at the surface of these bacteria.

Marine plastic debris is a global environmental problem. Surveys have shown that

Antimicrobial resistance is a global healthcare problem with a dwindling arsenal of usable drugs. Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, requires long-term combination therapy and multi- and totally drug resistant strains have emerged. This study reports the antibacterial activity of cationic polymers against mycobacteria, which are distinguished from other Gram-positive bacteria by their unique cell wall comprising a covalently linked mycolic acid−arabinogalactan−peptidoglycan complex (mAGP), interspersed with additional complex lipids which helps them persist in their host. The present study finds that poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) has particularly potent antimycobacterial activity and high selectivity over two Gram-negative strains. Removal of the backbone methyl group (poly(dimethylaminoethyl acrylate)) decreased antimycobacterial activity, and poly(aminoethyl methacrylate) also had no activity against mycobacteria. Hemolysis assays revealed poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) did not disrupt red blood cell membranes. Interestingly, poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) was not found to permeabilize mycobacterial membranes, as judged by dye exclusion assays, suggesting the mode of action is not simple membrane disruption, supported by electron microscopy analysis. These results demonstrate that synthetic polycations, with the correctly tuned structure are useful tools against mycobacterial infections, for which new drugs are urgently required.

Antifreeze proteins are potent inhibitors of ice crystal growth (recrystallization), which is a highly desirable property for cryopreservation and other low temperature applications. It has emerged that relatively simple polymers based on poly(vinyl alcohol) can mimic this activity, but the link between architecture and activity is not known. Here, a trifunctional xanthate was designed and synthesized to prepare star-branched poly(vinyl alcohols) by RAFT/Xanthate mediated polymerization, and their ice growth inhibition activity probed for the first time. The trifunctional agent design affords the formation of well-defined star polymers, with no evidence of star-star linking, even at high conversions, and narrow molecular weight dispersity. It is observed that three-arm stars have identical activity to two-armed (i.e. linear) equivalents, suggesting that the total hydrodynamic size of the polymer (diameter three-arm ∼ two-arm) rather than total valence of the functional groups is the key descriptor of activity.

Advanced applications of polymeric self-assembled structures require a stringent degree of control over such aspects as functionality location, morphology and size of the resulting assemblies. A loss of control in the polymeric building blocks of these assemblies can have drastic effects upon the final morphology or function of these structures. Gaining precise control over various aspects of the polymers, such as as chain lengths and architecture, blocking efficiency and compositional distribution is a challenge and, hence, measuring the intrinsic mass and size dispersity within these areas is an important aspect of such control. It is of great importance that a good handle on how to improve control and accurately measure it is achieved. Additionally dispersity of the final structure can also play a large part in the suitability for a desired application. In this Tutorial Review, we aim to highlight the different aspects of dispersity that are often overlooked and the effect that a lack of control in varying areas can have on both the polymer and the final assembled structure.

Biomacromolecular antifreezes distinguish ice from water, function by binding to specific planes of ice, and could have many applications from cryobiology to aerospace where ice is a problem. In biology, antifreeze protein (AFP) activity is regulated by protein expression levels via temperature and light-regulated expression systems, but in the laboratory (or applications), the antifreeze activity is “always on” without any spatial or temporal control, and hence methods to enable this switching represent an exciting synthetic challenge. Introduction of an abiotic functionality into short peptides (e.g., from solid-phase synthesis) to enable switching is also desirable rather than on full-length recombinant proteins. Here, truncated peptide sequences based on the consensus repeat sequence from type-I AFPs (TAANAAAAAAA) were conjugated to an anthracene unit to explore their photocontrolled dimerization. Optimization of the synthesis to ensure solubility of the hydrophobic peptide included the addition of a dilysine solubilizing linker. It was shown that UV-light exposure triggered reversible dimerization of the AFP sequence, leading to an increase in molecular weight. Assessment of the ice recrystallization inhibition activity of the peptides before and after dimerization revealed only small effects on activity. However, it is reported here for the first time that addition of the anthracene unit to a 22-amino-acid truncated peptide significantly enhanced ice recrystallization inhibition compared to the free peptide, suggesting an accessible synthetic route to allow AFP activity using shorter, synthetically accessible peptides with a photoreactive functionality.\ud \ud

The huge chemical space potential of synthetic polymers means that in many studies only a small parameter range can be realistically synthesized in a short time and hence the “best” formulations may not be optimum. Throughput is traditionally limited by the need for deoxygenation in radical polymerizations, but advances in photopolymerization now provide opportunities for “in-air” polymerizations. Here, we have developed a protocol using liquid handling robots (or multichannel pipettes) with blue light photolysis of reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer agents and tertiary amine deoxygenation to enable the synthesis of polymer libraries in industry-standard 96-well plates with no specialized infrastructure and no degassing step. The roles of solvents and amine deoxygenators are explored to optimize the polymerization, particularly to look at alternatives to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for hydrophobic monomer (co)polymerization. DMSO is shown to aid the degassing process but is not easy to remove and hence prevents isolation of pure polymers. In contrast, using dioxane in-plate evaporation or precipitation of the tertiary amine allowed isolation of polymers in-plate. This removed all reaction components yielding pure polymers, which is not easily achieved with systems using metal catalysts and secondary reductants, such as ascorbic acid. As an example of the throughput, in just under 40 h, 392 polymers were synthesized and subsequently analyzed direct from plates by a 96-well plate sampling size exclusion chromatography system to demonstrate reproducibility. Due to less efficient degassing in dioxane (compared to DMSO), the molecular weight and dispersity control were limited in some cases (with acrylates giving the lowest dispersities), but the key aim of this system is to access hundreds of polymers quickly and in a format needed to enable testing. This method enables easy exploration of chemical space and development of screening libraries to identify hits for further study using precision polymerization methods.\ud \ud

Re-engineering of mammalian cell surfaces with polymers enables the introduction of functionality including imaging agents, drug cargoes or antibodies for cell-based therapies, without resorting to genetic techniques. Glycan metabolic labeling has been reported as a tool for engineering cell surface glycans with synthetic polymers through the installation of biorthogonal handles, such as azides. Quantitative assessment of this approach and the robustness of the engineered coatings has yet to be explored. Here, we graft poly(hydroxyethyl acrylamide) onto azido-labeled cell surface glycans using strain-promoted azide–alkyne “click” cycloaddition and, using a combination of flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, evaluate the various parameters controlling the outcome of this “grafting to” process. In all cases, homogeneous cell coatings were formed with >95% of the treated cells being covalently modified, superior to nonspecific “grafting to” approaches. Controllable grafting densities could be achieved through modulation of polymer chain length and/or concentration, with longer polymers having lower densities. Cell surface bound polymers were retained for at least 72 h, persisting through several mitotic divisions during this period. Furthermore, we postulate that glycan/membrane recycling is slowed by the steric bulk of the polymers, demonstrating robustness and stability even during normal biological processes. This cytocompatible, versatile and simple approach shows potential for re-engineering of cell surfaces with new functionality for future use in cell tracking or cell-based therapies.\ud \ud

Alcanivorax is an important member of the hydrocarbonoclastic group known for using alkanes and other related compound as their preferred carbon source. Here we report the genomic characteristics of Alcanivorax sp. 24 isolated from plastic marine debris. Its 4,765,873 bp genome, containing 4239 coding sequences, revealed the presence of all genomic features involved in alkane degradation (i.e. two cytochrome P450, three alkane monooxygenases AlkB and two enzymes involved in the degradation of long-chain alkanes AlmA) as well as other relevant enzymes that may play a role in the biodegradation of other polymers such as polyhydroxybutyrate. The genome features and phylogenetic context of these genes provide interesting insight into the lifestyle versatility of Alcanivorax sp. living in the plastisphere of marine plastic debris.\ud \ud

Antifreeze (glyco) proteins (AF(G)Ps) are potent inhibitors of ice recrystallization and may have biotechnological applications. The most potent AF(G)Ps function at concentrations a thousand times lower than synthetic mimics such as poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA. Here, we demonstrate that PVA’s ice recrystallization activity can be rescued at concentrations where it does not normally function, by the addition of noninteracting polymeric depletants, due to PVA forming colloids in the concentrated saline environment present between ice crystals. These depletants shift the equilibrium toward ice binding and, hence, enable PVA to inhibit ice growth at lower concentrations. Using theory and experiments, we show this effect requires polymeric depletants, not small molecules, to enhance activity. These results increase our understanding of how to design new ice growth inhibitors, but also offer opportunities to enhance activity by exploiting depletion forces, without re-engineering ice-binding materials. It also shows that when screening for IRI activity that polymer contaminants in buffers may give rise to false positive results.

Antifreeze, ice binding and ice nucleating proteins modulate the formation and growth of ice in biological systems, enabling extremophiles to survive in sub-zero temperatures. A common feature is their rigidity, and segregated hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains. It has been demonstrated that increased hydrophobicity in rigid, facially amphipathic, synthetic polymers enhances ice recrystallisation inhibition (IRI) activity, but has not been evaluated in flexible systems. Here photochemical RAFT/MADIX polymerisation is used to obtain well-defined poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone), PVP, copolymers to probe the impact of hydrophobicity on ice recrystallisation inhibition in a fully flexible polymer system, to increase the understanding on how to mimic antifreeze proteins. It is observed that PVP homopolymers have only very weak, molecular weight dependent, IRI and that hydrophobic co-monomers give very modest changes in IRI, demonstrating that the spacial segregation of ‘philicities’ is crucial, and not just the overall hydrophobic content of the polymer. These results will help design the next generation of IRI active polymers for cryopreservation applications as well as aid our understanding of how biomacromolecules can inhibit ice growth.

Surface-grafted polymers have been widely applied to modulate biological interfaces and introduce additional functionality. Polymers derived from reversible addition–fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerization have a masked thiol at the ω-chain end providing an anchor point for conjugation and in particular displays high affinity for gold surfaces (both flat and particulate). In this work, we report the direct grafting of RAFTed polymers by a “thiol–ene click” (Michael addition) onto glass substrates rather than gold, which provides a more versatile surface for subsequent array-based applications but retains the simplicity. The immobilization of two thermoresponsive polymers are studied here, poly[oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate] (pOEGMA) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM). Using a range of surface analysis techniques the grafting efficiency was compared to thiol–gold and was quantitatively compared to the gold alternative using quartz crystal microbalance. It is shown that this method gives easy access to grafted polymer surfaces with pNIPAM resulting in significantly increased surface coverage compared to pOEGMA. The nonfouling (protein resistance) character of these surfaces is also demonstrated.

The development of new analytical tools as point-of-care biosensors is crucial to combat the spread of infectious diseases, especially in the context of drug-resistant organisms, or to detect biological warfare agents. Glycan/lectin interactions drive a wide range of recognition and signal transduction processes within nature and are often the first site of adhesion/recognition during infection making them appealing targets for biosensors. Glycosylated gold nanoparticles have been developed that change colour from red to blue upon interaction with carbohydrate-binding proteins and may find use as biosensors, but are limited by the inherent promiscuity of some of these interactions. Here we mimic the natural heterogeneity of cell-surface glycans by displaying mixed monolayers of glycans on the surface of gold nanoparticles. These are then used in a multiplexed, label-free bioassay to create ‘barcodes’ which describe the lectin based on its binding profile. The increased information content encoded by using complex mixtures of a few sugars, rather than increased numbers of different sugars makes this approach both scalable and accessible. These nanoparticles show increased lectin identification power at a range of lectin concentrations, relative to single-channel sensors. It was also found that some information about the concentration of the lectins can be extracted, all from just a simple colour change, taking this technology closer to being a realistic biosensor.

Glycan/lectin interactions drive a wide range of recognition and signal transduction processes within nature. However, their measurement is complicated or limited by the analytical tools available. Most technologies require fluorescently labelled proteins (e.g. microarrays) or expensive infrastructure (such as surface plasmon resonance). This also limits their application in biosensing, especially for low-resource settings, where detection of pathogens based on glycan binding could speed up diagnosis. Here we employ a library-oriented approach to immobilise a range of monosaccharides onto polymer-stabilised gold nanoparticles to enable rapid and high-throughput evaluation of their binding specificities with a panel of lectins. The red to blue colour shift upon gold nanoparticle aggregation is used as the output, removing the need for labelled protein, enabling compatibility with 96-well microplates. Furthermore, we demonstrate the use of a flatbed scanner (or digital camera) to extract biophysical data, ensuring that only minimal resources are required. Finally, linear discriminant analysis is employed to demonstrate how the glyconanoparticles can be applied as a multiplexed biosensor capable of identifying pathogenic lectins without the need for any infrastructure and overcoming some of the issues of lectin promiscuity.

Photoinitiated polymerization-induced self-assembly (photo-PISA) is an efficient approach to predictably prepare polymeric nanostructures with a wide range of morphologies. Given that this process can be performed at high concentrations and under mild reaction conditions, it has the potential to have significant industrial scope. However, given that the majority of industrial (and more specifically biotechnological) formulations contain mixtures of polymers and surfactants, the effect of such surfactants on the PISA process is an important consideration. Thus, to expand the scope of the methodology, the effect of small molecule surfactants on the PISA process, specifically for the preparation of unilamellar vesicles, was investigated. Similar to aqueous photo-PISA findings in the absence of surfactant molecules, the originally targeted vesicular morphology was retained in the presence of varying concentrations of non-ionic surfactants, while a diverse set of lower-order morphologies was observed for ionic surfactants. Interestingly, a critical micelle concentration (CMC)-dependent behavior was detected in the case of zwitterionic detergents. Additionally, tunable size and membrane thickness of vesicles were observed by using different types and concentration of surfactants. Based on these findings, a functional channel-forming membrane protein (OmpF porin), stabilized in aqueous media by surfactant molecules, was able to be directly inserted into the membrane of vesicles during photo-PISA. Our study demonstrates the potential of photo-PISA for the direct formation of protein–polymer complexes and highlights how this method could be used to design biomimicking polymer/surfactant nanoreactors.

We show here a low molecular weight hydrogelator based on a functionalised dipeptide which is stable down to temperatures of –12 °C despite being made from >99% water. With the addition of glycerol this can be lowered further to –40 °C. At these colder temperatures there is no effect on the mechanical properties of the gels., We show here a low molecular weight hydrogelator based on a functionalised-dipeptide which is stable down to temperatures of –12 °C despite being made from >99% water. This stabilty at low temperature can be extended to ∼–40 °C by gelling water : glycerol mixtures. The temperature range is wider than that of the glycerol : water mixtures alone. The rheological properties of the gels do not change at this low temperature compared to that of gels at 25 °C. This freezing point depression offers a potentially new method of transporting gels and offers the prospect of hydrogels being used at much lower working temperatures whilst retaining the desired rheological properties, this is useful for cryopreservation.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) has emerged as the most potent mimic of antifreeze (glyco)proteins ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activity, despite its lack of structural similarities and flexible, rather than rigid, backbone. The precise spacing of hydroxyl groups is hypothesized to enable PVA to recognize the prism planes of ice but not the basal plane, due to hydroxyl pattern matching of the ice surface giving rise to the macroscopic activity. Here, well-defined PVA derived from reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization is immobilized onto gold nanoparticles to enable the impact of nanoscale assembly and confinement on the observed IRI activity. Unlike previous reports using star-branched or bottle-brush PVAs, the nanoparticle-PVA retains all IRI activity compared to polymers in solution. Evidence is presented to show that this is due to the low grafting densities on the particle surface meaning the chains are free to explore the ice faces, rather than being constrained as in star-branched polymers. These results demonstrate a route to develop more functional IRI's and inclusion of metallic particle cores for imaging and associated applications in cryobiology.

Antifreeze glycoproteins from polar fish are the most potent ice recrystallization (growth) inhibitors known, and synthetic mimics are required for low tem- perature applications such as cell cryopreservation. Here we introduce facially amphipathic glycopolymers which mimic the 3-dimensional structure of AFGPs. Glycopol- ymers featuring segregated hydrophilic and hydrophobic faces were prepared by ring-opening metathesis polymer- ization and their rigid conformation was confirmed by small-angle neutron scattering. Ice recrystallization inhi- bition (IRI) activity was reduced when a hydrophilic oxo- ether was installed on the glycan-opposing face, but sig nificant activity was restored by incorporating a hydro- phobic dimethylfulvene residue. This biomimetic strategy demonstrates that segregated domains of distinct hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity are a crucial motif to introduce IRI activity, and increases our under- standing of the complex ice crystal inhibition processes.\ud \ud

Carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions are proposed to be biologically significant but have lower affinities than the well-studied carbohydrate-protein interactions. Here we introduce multivalent glyconanostructures where the surface expression of lactose can be triggered by an external stimulus, and a gold nanoparticle core enables colorimetric signal outputs to probe binding. Macromolecular engineering of a responsive polymer "gate" enables the lactose moieties to be presented only when an external stimulus is present, mimicking how nature uses enzymes to dynamically regulate glycan expression. Two different carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions are investigated using this tool.

There is an urgent need to identify new, non‐traditional antimicrobials. The discovery of new polymeric antimicrobials is limited by current low‐throughput synthetic tools, which means that limited chemical space has been explored. Herein, we employ photochemical “in‐air” reversible addition–fragmentation chain‐transfer (RAFT) polymerization with microwell plates, using liquid‐handling robots to assemble large libraries of cationic polymers, without the need for degassing or purification steps, facilitating transfer to screening. Several lead polymers were identified including a co‐polymer with propylene glycol side chains with significantly enhanced antimicrobial activity and increased therapeutic window. Mechanistic studies showed that this polymer was bacteriostatic, and surprisingly did not lyse the cell membranes, implying an alternative mode of action. This versatile method using simple robotics will help to develop new biomaterials with emergent properties.

Re-engineering mammalian cell surfaces enables modulation of their phenotype, function, and interactions with external markers and may find application in cell-based therapies. Here we use metabolic glycan labeling to install azido groups onto the cell surface, which can act as anchor points to enable rapid, simple, and robust “click” functionalization by the addition of a polymer bearing orthogonally reactive functionality. Using this strategy, new cell surface functionality was introduced by using telechelic polymers with fluorescence or biotin termini, demonstrating that recruitment of biomacromolecules is possible. This approach may enable the attachment of payloads and modulation of cell function and fate, as well as providing a tool to interface synthetic polymers with biological systems.

When influenza infects human cells it can get trapped in a mucus shell. Godula and coworkers mimic this process to provide a better drug screening platform.

Enzyme loading of polymersomes requires permeability to enable them to interact with the external environment, typically requiring addition of complex functionality to enable porosity. Herein, we describe a synthetic route toward intrinsically permeable polymersomes loaded with functional proteins using initiator-free visible light-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly (photo-PISA) under mild, aqueous conditions using a commercial monomer. Compartmentalization and retention of protein functionality was demonstrated using green fluorescent protein as a macromolecular chromophore. Catalytic enzyme-loaded vesicles using horseradish peroxidase and glucose oxidase were also prepared and the permeability of the membrane toward their small molecule substrates was revealed for the first time. Finally, the interaction of the compartmentalized enzymes between separate vesicles was validated by means of an enzymatic cascade reaction. These findings have a broad scope as the methodology could be applied for the encapsulation of a large range of macromolecules for advancements in the fields of nanotechnology, biomimicry, and nanomedicine.\ud \ud

Base-washed graphene-oxide which has been sequentially modified by thiol-epoxy chemistry, results in materials with ice nucleation activity. The role of hydro-philic/phobic grafts and polymers was evaluated with the most potent functioning at just 0.25 wt %. These 2-D hybrid materials may find use in cryopreservation and fundamental studies on ice formation.\ud

Polymer mimics of antifreeze proteins are emerging as an exciting class of macromolecular cryoprotectants for the storage of donor cells and tissue. Poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA, is the most potent polymeric ice growth inhibitor known, but its mode of action and the impact of valency (DP) are not fully understood. Herein, tandem RAFT polymerization and column chromatography are used to isolate oligomers with dispersities

Antifreeze proteins from polar fish species are remarkable biomacromolecules which prevent the growth of ice crystals. Ice crystal growth is a major problem in cell/tissue cryopreservation for transplantation, transfusion and basic biomedical research, as well as technological applications such as icing of aircraft wings. This review will introduce the rapidly emerging field of synthetic macromolecular (polymer) mimics of antifreeze proteins. Particular focus is placed on designing polymers which have no structural similarities to antifreeze proteins but reproduce the same macroscopic properties, potentially by different molecular-level mechanisms. The application of these polymers to the cryopreservation of donor cells is also introduced., Ice crystal growth is a major problem in cell and tissue cryopreservation for transplantation, transfusion, icing of aircraft wings and many other applications. Here the authors review the emerging field of synthetic macromolecular mimics of antifreeze proteins that can be used overcome such problems.

Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) is an emerging industrially relevant technology, which allows the preparation of defined and predictable polymer self-assemblies with a wide range of morphologies. In recent years, interest has turned to photoinitiated PISA processes, which show markedly accelerated reaction kinetics and milder conditions, thereby making it an attractive alternative to thermally initiated PISA. Herein, we attempt to elucidate the differences between these two initiation methods using isothermally derived phase diagrams of a well-documented poly(ethylene glycol)-b-(2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate) (PEG-b-HPMA) PISA system. By studying the influence of the intensity of the light source used, as well as an investigation into the thermodynamically favorable morphologies, the factors dictating differences in the obtained morphologies when comparing photo- and thermally initiated PISA were explored. Our findings indicate that differences in a combination of both reaction kinetics and end group fidelity led to the observed discrepencies between the two techniques. We find that the loss of the end group in photoinitiated PISA drives the formation of higher order structures and that a morphological transition from worms to unilamellar vesicles could be induced by extended periods of light and heat irradiation. Our findings demonstrate that PISA of identical block copolymers by the two different initiation methods can lead to structures that are both chemically and morphologically distinct.

Response polymer gates are employed to enable external control of glycan expression on the surface of multivalent nanoparticles., Nature dynamically controls carbohydrate expression on cells rather than static presentation. Here we report synthetic glycosylated nanoparticles that contain polymeric ‘gates’ to enable external control (via temperature changes) of glycan surface expression, as an alternative to enzymatic control in nature. This approach offers a new dynamic multivalent scaffold for glycan recognition.