Application Of Polyelectrolyte Complexes Research Articles

Fast acting hemostatic agent based on self-assembled hybrid nanofibers from chitosan and casein

Hemorrhage is a leading cause of preventable death in both military combat and civilian accidents. To overcome these challenges, an affordable and effective bandage is must required substance. A novel strategy is reported for developing chitosan-casein (CC) based self-assembled nanofibrous polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) for rapid blood clotting. The amide group (1630 cm−1) and phosphate group (910 cm−1) of chitosan-casein can form PEC at pH 8.2 ± 0.2. The PECs contain intertwined nanofibers (≤100 nm diameter) with a high surface area. Increasing chitosan percentage from 30% (CC30) to 50% (CC50) or 70% (CC70) results, increase in zeta potential of PEC from -9.14 ± 3.3 to 7.46 ± 3.7 and 14.8 ± 3.3 mV, respectively. Under in vitro conditions, the CC30, CC50, and CC70 PECs allow platelet adhesion and rapidly absorbs blood fluid to form mechanically stable blood clots within 9 ± 3, 16 ± 3, and 30 ± 4 s, respectively, which are better than Celox™ (90 ± 3 s). In vivo application of PEC (CC50) causes clotting within 37 ± 6 s of large (1 cm) arterial incision in rabbit models. The PEC is biocompatible with promising hemostatic efficiency. This is the first report of nanofibrous PEC from chitosan and casein for rapid clotting, to the best of our knowledge.

Improving the handling properties and long-term stability of polyelectrolyte complex by freeze-drying technique for low-dose bone morphogenetic protein 2 delivery.

A variety of controlled release carriers for bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) delivery have been developed and tested in animal models. An alginate-based polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) for controlled release of low-dose BMP-2 has shown promising results in preclinical research. However, the poor handling properties and long-term stability of PEC need to be improved for translational applications. This study aimed to address these limitations of alginate-based PEC by employing a freeze-drying technique. The size and structure of freeze-dried PEC (FD-PEC) were maintained with the addition of a cryoprotectant, trehalose. The release profile of BMP-2 from FD-PEC was similar to that of freshly prepared PEC. In vitro bioactivity analysis of the released BMP-2 showed that the carrier performance of PEC was not compromised by freeze-drying up to three-month storage at room temperature. BMP-2-bound FD-PEC induced comparable bone formation to that using freshly prepared regular PEC in a rat posterolateral spinal fusion model. These results suggest that FD-PEC is capable of delivering low-dose BMP-2 and could be developed as an off-the-shelf product for translational applications. The simplicity of this preservation method provides promise for the translational application of PEC.

Polyelectrolyte Complexation: Entropy, Medicine, and the Beginning of Life

Polymeric materials, which include plastics, fabrics and the vast majority of biological substances, are abundant in modern society. On the molecular scale, these materials are built from the interconnection of similar chemical subunits to form chainlike macromolecules. The medical, electrochemical, synthetic and materials science communities have increasingly turned their attention to polyelectrolytes, a subset of polymers with electric charge, in part because of their ability to spontaneously and reversibly phase-separate (complex) in aqueous solution. This entropic and electrostatic separation can yield well-defined nanoparticles, dynamic gels and other useful materials. These materials are called polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) and have formed the basis of complex-core micelle technologies that show promise as nanoscale drug-delivery vehicles for cancer treatment, and which have long been suspected to play a role in the chemical origin of life. This article describes the thermodynamics underlying polyelectrolyte complexation, and then illustrates the application of PECs in medicine and their possible role in the beginning of life, interconnecting these far-flung domains through their reliance on the spontaneous organisation of nanoscale space by chemical activity, the singular physical process of electrolyte complexation.

Polyelectrolyte-Complex Nanoparticles for Fluid-Loss Control in Oilwell Cementing

Summary This paper focuses on the application of polyelectrolyte-complex (PEC) nanoparticles to fluid-loss control of oilwell cements. Cement-slurry design involves considerable complexities, including the interplay of viscosity, yield point (YP), fluid-loss control, setting time, sedimentation, gel-strength development, and density. Polymers such as hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), carboxymethyl HEC (CMHEC), and polyvinyl alcohol have been used extensively for fluid-loss control in oilwell cementing. However, the resulting increase in slurry viscosity often led to unwanted side effects, such as increased pumping requirements. PECs were originally developed as drug carriers for pharmaceutical applications. Our previous work (Cordova et al. 2008; Lin et al. 2014; Johnson et al. 2016) showed that they can also be effective in improved-oil-recovery applications. In this study, we explore the potential of using PEC nanoparticles to achieve effective fluid-loss control while maintaining good fluid properties of the cement slurry. Results from this proof-of-concept study demonstrated that a PEC system comprising common oilfield polymers can be used to achieve effective fluid-loss control. Simultaneously, the system shows improved rheological properties over control samples while maintaining other desirable slurry characteristics.

Characterization of Polyelectrolyte Complex Formation Between Anionic and Cationic Poly(amino acids) and Their Potential Applications in pH-Dependent Drug Delivery.

Polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) are self-assembling nano-sized constructs that offer several advantages over traditional nanoparticle carriers including controllable size, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and lack of toxicity, making them particularly appealing as tools for drug delivery. Here, we discuss potential application of PECs for drug delivery to the slightly acidic tumor microenvironment, a pH in the range of 6.5–7.0. Poly(l-glutamic acid) (En), poly(l-lysine) (Kn), and a copolymer composed of histidine-glutamic acid repeats ((HE)n) were studied for their ability to form PECs, which were analyzed for size, polydispersity, and pH sensitivity. PECs showed concentration dependent size variation at residue lengths of E51/K55 and E135/K127, however, no complexes were observed when E22 or K21 were used, even in combination with the longer chains. (HE)20/K55 PECs could encapsulate daunomycin, were stable from pH 7.4–6.5, and dissociated completely between pH 6.5–6.0. Conversely, the E51-dauno/K55 PEC dissociated between pH 4.0 and 3.0. These values for pH-dependent particle dissociation are consistent with the pKa’s of the ionizable groups in each formulation and indicate that the specific pH-sensitivity of (HE)20-dauno/K55 PECs is mediated by incorporation of histidine. This response within a pH range that is physiologically relevant to the acidic tumors suggests a potential application of these PECs in pH-dependent drug delivery.

Effect of Film-Forming Alginate/Chitosan Polyelectrolyte Complex on the Storage Quality of Pork.

Meat is one of the most challenging food products in the context of maintaining quality and safety. The aim of this work was to improve the quality of raw/cooked meat by coating it with sodium alginate (A), chitosan (C), and sodium alginate-chitosan polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) hydrosols. Antioxidant properties of A, C, and PEC hydrosols were determined. Subsequently, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), sensory quality of raw/cooked pork coated with experimental hydrosols, and antimicrobial efficiency of those hydrosols on the surface microbiota were analysed. Application analyses of hydrosol were performed during 0, 7, and 14 days of refrigerated storage in MAP (modified atmosphere packaging). Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and (2,2-diphenyll-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) analysis confirmed the antioxidant properties of A, C, and PEC. Sample C (1.0%) was characterized by the highest DPPH value (174.67 μM Trolox/mL) of all variants. PEC samples consisted of A 0.3%/C 1.0% and A 0.6%/C 1.0% were characterized by the greatest FRAP value (~7.21 μM Fe2+/mL) of all variants. TAC losses caused by thermal treatment of meat were reduced by 45% by coating meat with experimental hydrosols. Application of PEC on the meat surface resulted in reducing the total number of micro-organisms, psychrotrophs, and lactic acid bacteria by about 61%, and yeast and molds by about 45% compared to control after a two-week storage.

Factors Controlling Phase Separation in Water−Salt Solutions of DNA and Polycations

Factors affecting phase separation in water-salt solutions of polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs), formed by DNA and integral or pendant polycations with a quaternary amino group in every monomer unit, have been studied. When no salt was added, quantitative DNA precipitation occurred at a stoichiometric charge ratio, = [+]/[-] 1. In DNA mixtures with poly(N,N'-dimethyldiallylammonium chloride) (PDMDAAC, a pendant polycation), insoluble PECs formed in the range 0.7 2. For different aliphatic ionene bromides (integral polycations), the range of corresponding to insoluble PECs was significantly broader, mainly due to the poor ability of the ionenes to form soluble, positively charged PECs. The range was also relatively broad for poly(N-ethyl-4-vinylpyridinium bromide) (a pendant polycation) and became broader with decreasing degree of polymerization of the polycation. The formation of insoluble PECs was favored by the addition of salt (NaCl), and the effect was more pronounced when decreasing the relative content of the solubilizing component, i.e., the nucleic acid at 1. At moderate ionic strength, 0.12 M < [NaCl] < 0.6 M, quantitative precipitation of DNA was attained by addition of PDMAAC in the whole region studied: 1 < < 4.5. The data obtained strongly suggest that phase separation in solutions of DNA-containing PECs follows general rules revealed by studying PECs formed by flexible vinyl polyanions. However, the high rigidity of the DNA double helix appears to be responsible for the key feature revealed in the phase diagrams, i.e., significant broadening of the region for insoluble PECs at the expense of the region in which soluble DNA-containing PECs are formed. This feature may severely limit the application of DNA-containing PECs in medicine and biology but could be beneficial in the development of simple and effective procedures for DNA separation in biotechnology.

Application of polyelectrolyte complexes as novel pseudo-stationary phases in MEKC.

Polyacrylic acid (PAA) and polymethacrylic acid (PMAA) with carboxyl groups partially blocked by dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) were tested as new pseudo-stationary phases in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). The separation of was examined using PAA and PMAA. Excellent resolution of the substituted phenols and derivatized amino acids was demonstrated using additives of PAA-DTAB polyelectrolyte complex in the running phosphate buffer. It was found that the capacity factors were proportional to the concentration of the complex PAA/DTAB. Critical micelle concentration was effectively zero. It was found that the migration times and efficiency of separation of phenols and derivatives of amino acids depended on the type of polymers and alkyltrimethylammonium salts used.

Wheat Germ Lectin Sorption by Chitosan Polyelectrolyte Complexes

The possible application of polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) of chitosan and copolymers of maleic acid with N-vinylpyrrolidone, styrene, and ethylene and/or cross-linked chitin sorbents (CLCS) synthesized on the basis of PEC for sorption of wheat germ lectin (WGL) was studied. The synthesis of spherically granulated sorbents was shown. Compared to unmodified chitosan, there was a significant increase in sorption capacity of WGL by the sorbents: PEC, 2.5-fold, and CLCS, from 3.5-fold to 7-fold.