An Ultrapotent, Ultraeconomical, Antifreeze Polypeptide.

The growth of large ice crystals during freeze and thaw events is a challenge in diverse settings from transportation and agriculture to foods and biomedicine. Design, synthesis, and evaluation of antifreeze polypeptides that inhibit ice crystal growth at µg concentrations are reported herein. The polypeptides, composed of Ala and Glu, are prepared using economical methodology, are stable after thermal events, are biodegradable, and are nontoxic to human cells.

Clickable Polyprolines from Azido-proline -Carboxyanhydride.

Polyproline is a material of great interest in biomedicine due to its helical scaffold of structural importance in collagen and mucins and its ability to gel and to change conformations in response to temperature. Appending of function-modulating chemical groups to such a material is desirable to diversify potential applications. Here, we describe the synthesis of high-molecular-weight homo, block, and statistical polymers of azide-functionalized proline.

Preparation and applications of artificial mucins in biomedicine.

Mucus is an essential barrier material that separates organisms from the outside world. This slippery material regulates the transport of nutrients, drugs, gases, and pathogens toward the cell surface. The surface of the cell itself is coated in a mucus-like barrier of glycoproteins and glycolipids.

Rethinking Transition Metal Catalyzed -Carboxyanhydride Polymerization: Polymerization of Pro and AcOPro -Carboxyanhydrides.

Polyproline (PP) based polypeptides have broad applications as protein mimics, ordered materials, hydrogels, and surface coatings. However, a lack of rapid and efficient preparatory methods has challenged synthesis of well-defined high molecular weight materials. Here, we report facile and high-yielding methods for preparation and polymerization of Pro and -4-acetoxy-Pro -carboxyanhdrides (NCAs).