Macroporous monoliths for biodegradation study of polymer particles considered as drug delivery systems.

Nanostructures based on biodegradable polymers are often considered as drug delivery systems. The properties of these nanomaterails towards in vitro biodegradation are very important and usually are studied using the model physiological conditions. In this work the novel approach based on application of monolithic immobilized enzyme reactors (IMERs) as the systems for biodegradation study of the nanoobjects of different nature and morphology was suggested. Rigid nanospheres based on poly(lactic acid) and self-assembled nanoobjects formed from block-copolymer of glutamic acid and phenylalanine were applied as model nanomaterials. For that, two enzymes, namely, esterase and papain were chosen for preparation of the monolithic IMERs. The properties of immobilized enzymes were compared to those obtained for soluble biocatalysts in the reaction of poly(lactic acid) and poly(glutamic acid) degradation. The monitoring of substrate destruction process was carried out using different HPLC modes (anion-exchange, cation-exchange or precipitation-redissolution based process) also based on application of the same modern stationary phase, namely, macroporous monoliths (CIM disks and lab-made column). Finally, the applicability of monolithic immobilized enzyme reactors for degradation of polyester and polypetide-based particles was demonstrated and compared to the process observed in human blood plasma.

Self-assembled polypeptide nanoparticles for intracellular irinotecan delivery.

In this research poly(l-lysine)-b-poly(l-leucine) (PLys-b-PLeu) polymersomes were developed. It was shown that the size of nanoparticles depended on pH of self-assembly process and varied from 180 to 650nm. The biodegradation of PLys-b-PLeu nanoparticles was evaluated using in vitro polypeptide hydrolysis in two model enzymatic systems, as well as in human blood plasma. The experiments on the visualization of cellular uptake of rhodamine 6g-loaded and fluorescein-labeled nanoparticles were carried out and the possibility of their penetration into the cells was approved. The cytotoxicity of polymersomes obtained was tested using three cell lines, namely, HEK, NIH-3T3 and A549. It was shown that tested nanoparticles did not demonstrate any cytotoxicity in the concentrations up to 2mg/mL. The encapsulation of specific to colorectal cancer anti-tumor drug irinotecan into developed nanocontainers was performed by means of pH gradient method. The dispersion of drug-loaded polymersomes in PBS was stable at 4°C for a long time (at least 1month) without considerable drug leakage. The kinetics of drug release was thoroughly studied using two model enzymatic systems, human blood serum and PBS solution. The approximation of irinotecan release profiles with different mathematical drug release models was carried out and allowed identification of the release mechanism, as well as the morphological peculiarities of developed particles. The dependence of encapsulation efficiency, as well as maximal loading capacity, on initial drug concentration was studied. The maximal drug loading was found as 320±55µg/mg of polymersomes. In vitro anti-tumoral activity of irinotecan-loaded polymersomes on a colon cancer cell line (Caco-2) was measured and compared to that for free drug.

[Degradation of polyribonucleotides: biocatalysis and the monitoring of products].

Macroporous monolithic material containing covalently linked ribonuclease A was used to create high-performance flow heterogeneous biocatalysts (bioreactors). The kinetic parameters of the degradation of polycytidylic acid were identified, and the properties of the obtained systems were compared. A HPLC method has been developed for monitoring products of biocatalytic degradation of RNA, and the possibility of using biocatalytic and HPLC columns in RNA degradation processes in a multicomponent mixture of biological molecules was shown.

Polymer monoliths as efficient solid phases for enzymatic polynucleotide degradation followed by fast HPLC analysis.

Two ribonuclease A bioreactors based on lab-made macroporous monolithic columns and intended for polynucleotide degradation were prepared using in situ free-radical polymerization. Different methods of enzyme immobilization were applied. In the first case, the biocatalyst molecule was attached to the solid surface via direct covalent binding, while in the second bioreactor the flexible-chain synthetic polymer was used as an intermediate spacer. The effect of temperature, substrate flow rate, and loaded sample volume on the biocatalytic efficiency of the immobilized enzyme was examined. The kinetic parameters of the enzymatic degradation of synthetic polycytidylic acid were calculated and compared to those found for hydrolysis with soluble ribonuclease A. The monitoring of substrate splitting was carried out by means of fast anion-exchange HPLC on an ultra-short monolithic column (disk) using off- and on-line analytical approaches.

Biocatalytic reactors based on ribonuclease A immobilized on macroporous monolithic supports.

Immobilized enzyme reactors (IMERs) produced by the covalent attachment of ribonuclease A to macroporous methacrylate-based monolithic supports using different experimental approaches are discussed and compared. Enzyme immobilization was carried out by direct covalent binding, as well as through attachment via a polymer spacer. The kinetic properties of an IMER operating in either recirculation mode or zonal elution mode were studied. Additionally, the effect of flow rate on the bioconversion efficiency of each IMER sample was examined.

[Optimization of a medium and the role of its various components for the biosynthesis of Mycobacterium cyaneum exopolysaccharide]. / Optimizatsiia sredy i znachenie nekotorykh ee komponentov dlia biosinteza ékzopolisakharida Mycobacterium cyaneum.

The effect of some components of the medium on the growth of Mycobacterium cyaneum B-646 and on the biosynthesis of an exoglycan by the culture was studied. A medium in which the M. cyaneum M variant produced up to 2.2 g of the exopolysaccharide per litre, which was nearly 4 times more than in the original medium, was proposed. The new medium differed from the original one in an elevated content of carbon, iron and potassium (11.2, 5.0 and 1.4 times, respectively) and in a lower phosphorus content (6.7 times). The exopolysaccharide produced by the culture in this medium contained glucose, galactose, fucose and uronic acid. Therefore, its monomeric composition did not depend on the medium used for growing the culture which produced the exopolysaccharide.