Over the last several decades the field of nanotechnology has emerged as a promising avenue towards probing, modifying, and interfering with biological processes. Highly functional self-assembled polymers derived from Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP) offer an attractive platform for building such materials due to the high levels of functional group complexity and modularity achieved in the product. Of particular interest in the self-assembly of these amphiphiles is the influence of nanoparticle structure over function in vivo including cell uptake, circulation, stability and clearance. For this reason it is important to access and understand the variables that affect the supramolecular morphology for amphiphilic ROMP materials. In our study, a library of ROMP amphiphile self-assemblies was analyzed via small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and electron microscopy (EM) techniques in order to elucidate the assembly properties of the polymers. We found that these assemblies operate on a different kinetic landscape than many other commonly used amphiphiles, allowing us to trap complex, highly ordered superstructure morphologies that are stable over long timescales. We next aimed to impart function to our materials by exploring the attachment of biological polymers, specifically DNA, to hydrophobic ROMP polymers in order to form DNA-polymer amphiphile (DPA) self-assemblies, which spontaneously enter cells while resisting nuclease degradation, two key obstacles in the implementation of DNA based therapeutics in the clinic. We found the antisense activity of the corona DNA is retained in cellulo and gene knockdown is observed. This class of amphiphilic self-assemblies shows immense promise in delivering highly functional material with a diverse array of chemical and morphological identities and we look forward to continue exploring their potential at the biological interface.

ROMP polymer amphiphiles: Tuning structure and function towards impactful biological interactions

251st National Meeting (2016)

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