Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Aqueous Raft Polymerization Of Glycopolymers For Peptide Interaction Studies And Antimicrobial Peptide Mimics For Antimicrobial Activity And Selectivity Studies, Sarah Elizabeth Exley

Dissertations

The first section of this work describes the synthesis and characterization of novel glycopolymers synthesized to model GM1 gangliosides, a glycolipid found in neuronal cells. Glucose and galactose were attached to N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide, using chemistry that granted control over the stereochemistry at the C1’ carbon of each saccharide, and polymerized via aqueous RAFT (aRAFT). Homopolymers, targeting either 30 or 300 DP, and copolymers, with N-dimethyl acrylamide, were prepared as a glycopolymer platform for investigation of amyloid β (Aβ), a naturally occurring peptide associated with Alzheimer’s disease, aggregation. Aβ aggregation kinetics and aggregate size in the presence of glycopolymer were determined. …