When Ecocriticism Meets Existentialism Krell, Jonathan
Interdisciplinary studies in literature and environment,
06/2017, Letnik:
24, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Polymorphic microbes: a new emerging hallmark of cancer Lythgoe, Mark P.; Mullish, Benjamin H.; Frampton, Adam E. ...
Trends in microbiology (Regular ed.),
December 2022, 2022-12-00, Letnik:
30, Številka:
12
Journal Article
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Recognition of the microbiome (and ‘polymorphic microbes’ within them) as a new emerging hallmark of cancer reflects a wide body of rapidly evolving research. Microbes may be directly carcinogenic, ...impact host immune responses to promote malignancy, and may be key effectors in determining the efficacy of anticancer therapy. Manipulation of the microbiome is showing promise as an opportunity to influence cancer outcomes.
Thermally induced micelle configuration that leads to gelation on ethylene glycol based linear methacrylate diblock copolymers.
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•Synthesis of novel linear diblock copolymers based on ...ethylene glycol methacrylate monomers.•Effect of composition on the thermoresponsive properties of the copolymers.•Thermally induce reconfiguration of the micelle structure that leads to gelation.•New gelation formulation based on the in-house synthesised copolymers and Pluronic® F127.
A series of biocompatible thermoresponsive copolymers were successfully synthesised via group transfer polymerisation (GTP) from methoxy ethylene glycol methacrylate (MEGMA) and methoxy oligo (ethylene glycol) methacrylate (OEGMA, Mn = 300 g mol -1). Statistical and diblock copolymers with molar mass around 8100 g mol−1 and various compositions were investigated. Specifically, the content in OEGMA and MEGMA was varied from 80 to 20, 70–30, 60–40, to 50–50 w/w%. The thermoresponsive and self-assembly behaviour of the copolymers was investigated throughvisual tests, rheology, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Interestingly, the diblock copolymers with higher MEGMA content were able to form gels at relatively low concentrations (as low as 5% w/w) when increasing the temperature, something that is reported for the first time for linear ethylene glycol based copolymers. A transition of spherical micelle to worm-like micelle was observed in these diblock copolymers that promotes gelation. Furthermore, these in-house synthesised polymers were mixed with Pluronic® F127. It was found that the gelation area of Pluronic® F127 was broadened by the addition of the synthesised copolymers with one formulation, specifically a combination of 12.5% w/w Pluronic® F127 and 12.5% w/w of a statistical OEGMA-co-MEGMA, forming a stable gel from 34 °C to 48 °C that is a desirable temperature range for biological applications. Finally, cell viability experiments were performed for the three most promising diblock copolymers and they were confirmed to be non-toxic.
