Hyperbranched Self-Immolative Polymers (hSIPs) for Programmed Payload Delivery and Ultrasensitive Detection.
Upon stimuli-triggered single cleavage of capping moieties at the focal point and chain terminal, self-immolative dendrimers (SIDs) and linear self-immolative polymers (l-SIPs) undergo spontaneous domino-like radial fragmentation and cascade head-to-tail depolymerization, respectively. The nature of response selectivity and signal amplification has rendered them a unique type of stimuli-responsive materials. Moreover, novel design principles are required for further advancement in the field of self-immolative polymers (SIPs). Herein, we report the facile fabrication of water-dispersible SIPs with a new chain topology, hyperbranched self-immolative polymers (hSIPs), by utilizing one-pot AB2 polycondensation methodology and sequential postfunctionalization. The modular engineering of three categories of branching scaffolds, three types of stimuli-cleavable capping moieties at the focal point, and seven different types of peripheral functional groups and polymeric building blocks affords both structurally and functionally diverse hSIPs with chemically tunable amplified-release features. On the basis of the hSIP platform, we explored myriad functions including visible light-triggered intracellular release of peripheral conjugated drugs in a targeted and spatiotemporally controlled fashion, intracellular delivery and cytoplasmic reductive milieu-triggered plasmid DNA release via on/off multivalency switching, mitochondria-targeted fluorescent sensing of H2O2 with a detection limit down to ∼20 nM, and colorimetric H2O2 assay via triggered dispersion of gold nanoparticle aggregates. To further demonstrate the potency and generality of the hSIP platform, we further configure it into biosensor design for the ultrasensitive detection of pathologically relevant antigens (e.g., human carcinoembryonic antigen) by integrating with enzyme-mediated cycle amplification with positive feedback and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, iChem (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Guhuan
G
Liu
CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, iChem (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.|Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology , Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China.
Guofeng
G
Zhang
CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, iChem (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Jinming
J
Hu
CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, iChem (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Xiaorui
X
Wang
Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology , Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China.
Mingqiang
M
Zhu
CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, iChem (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Shiyong
S
Liu
D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000378:metabolism; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D011108:Polymers / Q000032:analysis*
D011108:Polymers; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide