Date of Award
6-2023
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Polymer Science and Engineering
Committee Chair
Sarah E. Morgan
Committee Chair School
Polymer Science and Engineering
Committee Member 2
Derek Patton
Committee Member 2 School
Polymer Science and Engineering
Committee Member 3
William Jarrett
Committee Member 3 School
Polymer Science and Engineering
Committee Member 4
Vijay Rangachari
Committee Member 4 School
Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Committee Member 5
Xiaodan Gu
Committee Member 5 School
Polymer Science and Engineering
Abstract
The focus of this dissertation is the development of bio-inspired peptides and glycopolymers with controlled structures for biomaterial and drug delivery applications. Biomimetic peptides and glycopolymers have become increasingly relevant in the biomedical field due to their unique functionalities that can enhance the biocompatibility and bioactivity of materials. Developing an in-depth understanding of the structure-property relationships can provide insight into how these synthetic peptides and glycopolymers can be used for biological applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering. The first chapter provides an introductory overview of the requirements necessary for the development of bioinspired peptide and glycopolymer materials and the unique features (such as bioactivity and biocompatibility) that can enhance the material properties of electrospun mats and hydrogels for biomedical applications. In the second chapter, the synthesis of de novo amyloid peptides is presented, where changes at single amino acid residues were made to each peptide sequence to vary their overall hydrophobicity, polarity, and ionicity. We report that subtle variations influence the self-assembly and nanomechanical properties of the resulting peptide aggregated structures. In the third chapter, electrospun synthetic glycopolymer/PEO fibrous mats with varying glycopolymer content are reported. Glycopolymer incorporation influences the fibrous mat morphology and significantly reduces cytotoxicity compared to neat PEO. In the fourth chapter, glucose- and galactose- based physically crosslinked hydrogels were synthesized at varying comonomer composition and amphiphilicity. The hydrogel network morphology, water uptake, and diffusive properties are heavily dictated by iii glycomonomer incorporation and the hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions within the network.
ORCID ID
0000-0001-7908-7927
Copyright
2023, Hannah Abernathy
Recommended Citation
Abernathy, Hannah, "DESIGN OF BIOINSPIRED PEPTIDES AND GLYCOPOLYMERS FOR CONTROLLED DRUG LOADING AND RELEASE" (2023). Dissertations. 2137.
https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/2137