title: Multidentate Comb-Shaped Polypeptides Bearing Trithiocarbonate Functionality: Synthesis and Application for Water-Soluble Quantum Dots.
abstract: We describe here the synthesis of multidentate comb-shaped polypeptides bearing trithiocarbonate functionality and their application in the preparation of water-soluble quantum dots (QDs). A new l-lysine-based N-carboxyanhydride monomer containing trithiocarbonate functionality was designed and synthesized. Ring-opening polymerization of the resulting monomer initiated by hexamethyldisilazane affords polypeptides bearing pendent trithiocarbonate groups (P(TTCLys)) with controllable molecular weights. P(TTCLys) was then applied to mediate the reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization of oligo(ethylene glycol)acrylate for the metal-free preparation of hydrophilic comb-shaped polypeptides. Simple reduction of trithiocarbonate functionality enabled the introduction of multiple thiol anchoring groups to the above-mentioned comb-shaped polypeptides. Finally, the obtained multidentate polypeptide-based ligands were successfully applied in the ligand exchange procedures to generate water-soluble QDs. The fluorescent microscopic images suggested that the resultant water-soluble QDs could be effectively internalized into HeLa cells to realize bright cellular imaging. Therefore, our work can result in a new kind of valuable polypeptide-based QDs with hydrophilic character and biocompatibility for cellular imaging.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Renmin Street 5625, Changchun 130022, People's Republic of China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100039, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Renmin Street 5625, Changchun 130022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jinlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Renmin Street 5625, Changchun 130022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaojie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Renmin Street 5625, Changchun 130022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chunsheng
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7936-4146
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Renmin Street 5625, Changchun 130022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xuesi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Renmin Street 5625, Changchun 130022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Youhua
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2138-2592
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Renmin Street 5625, Changchun 130022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xianhong
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4228-705X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000179:Acrylates / Q000737:chemistry; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008239:Lysine / Q000737:chemistry; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D058105:Polymerization; D045663:Quantum Dots; D013871:Thiones / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000179:Acrylates; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D010455:Peptides; D013871:Thiones; C000609723:poly((oligoethylene glycol)acrylate); D014867:Water; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D008239:Lysine; C013321:trithiocarbonic acid