Design of polysaccharide-b-elastin like polypeptide bioconjugates and their thermoresponsive self-assembly

Ye Xiao (1, 2) , Zoeisha Chinoy (1, 2) , Gilles Pécastaings (1) , Katell Bathany (3) , Elisabeth Garanger (1, 2) , Sébastien Lecommandoux (1, 2)

1 LCPO - Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques
2 Team 3 LCPO : Polymer Self-Assembly & Life Sciences
3 CBMN - Chimie et Biologie des Membranes et des Nanoobjets

The advantageous biological properties of polysaccharides and precise stimuli-responsiveness of elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are of great interest for the design of polysaccharide and polypeptide-based amphiphilic block copolymers for biomedical applications. Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization of a series of polysaccharide-block-ELP copolymers, containing two biocompatible and biodegradable blocks coupled via copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). The resulting bioconjugates are capable of self-assembling into well-defined nanoparticles in aqueous solution upon raising the solution temperature above a specific transition temperature (Tt) – a characteristic of the ELP moiety. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study where polysaccharides were combined with a stimuli-responsive ELP for the preparation of thermo-sensitive self-assemblies, providing insight into novel pathways for designing bioinspired stimuli-responsive self-assemblies for biomedical applications.

Mots clés: Elastin-like polypeptides; Block copolymers; Polysaccharides

Domaines: Polymères; Matériaux; Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]; Biotechnologies

Ye Xiao, Zoeisha Chinoy, Gilles Pécastaings, Katell Bathany, Elisabeth Garanger, et al.. Design of polysaccharide-b-elastin like polypeptide bioconjugates and their thermoresponsive self-assembly. Biomacromolecules, 2020, 21 (1), pp.114-125. ⟨10.1021/acs.biomac.9b01058⟩. ⟨hal-02299856⟩