Synthetic Polymer Nanoparticle-Polysaccharide interactions: A Systematic Study

The interaction between synthetic polymer nanoparticles (NPs) and biomacromolecules (e.g., proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides) can profoundly influence the NPs fate and function. Polysaccharides (e.g., heparin/heparin sulfate) are a key component of cell surfaces and the extracelluar matrix and play critical roles in many biological processes. We report a systematic investigation of the interaction between synthetic polymer nanoparticles and polysaccharides by ITC, SPR, and an anticoagulant assay to provide guidelines to engineer nanoparticles for biomedical applications. The interaction between acrylamide nanoparticles (similar to 30 nm) and heparin is mainly enthalpy driven with submicromolar affinity. Hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions, and dehydration of polar groups are identified to be key contributions to the affinity. It has been found that high charge density and cross-linking of the NP can contribute to high affinity. The affinity and binding capacity of heparin can be significantly diminished by an increase in salt concentration while only slightly decreased with an increase of temperature. A striking difference in binding thermodynamics has been observed when the main component of a polymer nanoparticle is changed from acrylamide (enthalpy driven) to N-isopropylacryalmide (entropy driven). This change in thermodynamics leads to different responses of these two types of polymer NPs to salt concentration and temperature. Select synthetic polymer nanoparticles have also been shown to inhibit protein heparin interactions and thus offer the potential for therapeutic applications.