Presentation day

Wednesday  3:10 PM

 

TITLE

Supramolecular nanoassemblies responsive to biological stimuli

 

Abstract

Design and syntheses of advanced supramolecular assemblies, which directly respond to
biological stimuli have implications in a variety of areas including therapeutic delivery, biological sensing
and in vivo diagnostics. On this account, several macromolecular assemblies have been developed that
respond to triggers such as pH, temperature, and redox conditions. While such systems are interesting, it is
also interesting to note that the location-dependent variations of these factors can be considered to be
secondary imbalances in biology, while protein imbalances are the disease-causing primary imbalances.
However, systems that respond to proteins are relatively rare. We have developed a unique facially
amphiphilic dendrimer system, which is not only capable of sequestering lipophilic guest/drug molecules
within their micellar interiors, but can also release the loaded contents in response to a specific protein or
enzyme. The hydrophilic-lipophilic balance required for the stability of these amphiphilic assemblies forms
the basis for the assembly and disassembly events