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Biomimetic Polymers Responsive to a Biological Signaling Molecule: Nitric Oxide Triggered Reversible Self‐assembly of Single Macromolecular Chains into Nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Hu Jinming,
Whittaker Michael R.,
Duong Hien,
Li Yang,
Boyer Cyrille,
Davis Thomas P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201403147
Subject(s) - macromolecule , monomer , self assembly , polymer , molecule , polymerization , lower critical solution temperature , copolymer , nitric oxide , nanoparticle , chemistry , fluorescence , nanotechnology , biophysics , materials science , organic chemistry , biochemistry , physics , biology , quantum mechanics
Novel nitric oxide (NO) responsive monomers (NAPMA and APUEMA) containing o ‐phenylenediamine functional groups have been polymerized to form NO‐responsive macromolecular chains as truly biomimetic polymers. Upon exposure to NO—a ubiquitous cellular signaling molecule—the NAPMA‐ and APUEMA‐labeled thermoresponsive copolymers exhibited substantial changes in solubility, clearly characterized by tuneable LCST behavior, thereby inducing self‐assembly into nanoparticulate structures. Moreover, the NO‐triggered self‐assembly process in combination with environmentally sensitive fluorescence dyes could be employed to detect and image endogenous NO.