TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fetsch, Corinna
A1  - Gaitzsch, Jens
A1  - Messager, Lea
A1  - Battaglia, Giuseppe
A1  - Luxenhofer, Roberts
T1  - Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Block Copolypeptoids – Micelles, Worms and Polymersomes
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Polypeptoids are an old but recently rediscovered polymer class with interesting synthetic, physico-chemical and biological characteristics. Here, we introduce new aromatic monomers, N-benzyl glycine N-carboxyanhydride and N-phenethyl glycine N-carboxyanhydride and their block copolymers with the hydrophilic polysarcosine. We compare their self-assembly in water and aqueous buffer with the self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolypeptoids with aliphatic side chains. The aggregates in water were investigated by dynamic light scattering and electron microscopy. We found a variety of morphologies, which were influenced by the polymer structure as well as by the preparation method. Overall, we found polymersomes, worm-like micelles and oligo-lamellar morphologies as well as some less defined aggregates of interconnected worms and vesicles. Such, this contribution may serve as a starting point for a more detailed investigation of the self-assembly behavior of the rich class of polypeptoids and for a better understanding between the differences in the aggregation behavior of non-uniform polypeptoids and uniform peptoids.
KW  - bioinspired materials
KW  - polymer characterization
KW  - polymer synthesis
KW  - polymers
KW  - self-assembly
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147855
VL  - 6
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Brüning, Christoph
A1  - Wehner, Johannes
A1  - Hausner, Julian
A1  - Wenzel, Michael
A1  - Engel, Volker
T1  - Exciton dynamics in perturbed vibronic molecular aggregates
JF  - Structural Dynamics
N2  - A site specific perturbation of a photo-excited molecular aggregate can lead to a localization of excitonic energy. We investigate this localization dynamics for laser-prepared excited states. Changing the parameters of the electric field significantly influences the exciton localization which offers the possibility for a selective control of this process. This is demonstrated for aggregates possessing a single vibrational degree of freedom per monomer unit. It is shown that the effects identified for the molecular dimer can be generalized to larger aggregates with a high density of vibronic states.
KW  - absorption spectra
KW  - excited states
KW  - polymers
KW  - excitons
KW  - wave functions
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126085
VL  - 3
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Simsekyilmaz, Sakine
A1  - Liehn, Elisa A.
A1  - Weinandy, Stefan
A1  - Schreiber, Fabian
A1  - Megens, Remco T. A.
A1  - Theelen, Wendy
A1  - Smeets, Ralf
A1  - Jockenhövel, Stefan
A1  - Gries, Thomas
A1  - Möller, Martin
A1  - Klee, Doris
A1  - Weber, Christian
A1  - Zernecke, Alma
T1  - Targeting In-Stent-Stenosis with RGD- and CXCL1-Coated Mini-Stents in Mice
JF  - PLoS ONE
N2  - Atherosclerotic lesions that critically narrow the artery can necessitate an angioplasty and stent implantation. Long-term therapeutic effects, however, are limited by excessive arterial remodeling. We here employed a miniaturized nitinol-stent coated with star-shaped polyethylenglycole (star-PEG), and evaluated its bio-functionalization with RGD and CXCL1 for improving in-stent stenosis after implantation into carotid arteries of mice. Nitinol foils or stents (bare metal) were coated with star-PEG, and bio-functionalized with RGD, or RGD/CXCL1. Cell adhesion to star-PEG-coated nitinol foils was unaltered or reduced, whereas bio-functionalization with RGD but foremost RGD/CXCL1 increased adhesion of early angiogenic outgrowth cells (EOCs) and endothelial cells but not smooth muscle cells when compared with bare metal foils. Stimulation of cells with RGD/CXCL1 furthermore increased the proliferation of EOCs. In vivo, bio-functionalization with RGD/CXCL1 significantly reduced neointima formation and thrombus formation, and increased re-endothelialization in apoE\(^{-/-}\) carotid arteries compared with bare-metal nitinol stents, star-PEG-coated stents, and stents bio-functionalized with RGD only. Bio-functionalization of star-PEG-coated nitinol-stents with RGD/CXCL1 reduced in-stent neointima formation. By supporting the adhesion and proliferation of endothelial progenitor cells, RGD/CXCL1 coating of stents may help to accelerate endothelial repair after stent implantation, and thus may harbor the potential to limit the complication of in-stent restenosis in clinical approaches.
KW  - carotid arteries
KW  - polymers
KW  - stent implantation
KW  - coatings
KW  - endothelial cells
KW  - mice
KW  - fluorescence microscopy
KW  - stem cells
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-179745
VL  - 11
IS  - 5
ER  -