Bacillus anthracis elaborates a poly-gamma-d-glutamic acid capsule that protects bacilli from phagocytic killing during infection. The enzyme CapD generates amide bonds with peptidoglycan cross-bridges to anchor capsular material within the cell wall envelope of B. anthracis. The capsular biosynthetic pathway is essential for virulence during anthrax infections and can be targeted for anti-infe...

Biodegradable polymers with high mechanical strength, flexibility and optical transparency, optimal degradation properties and biocompatibility are critical to the success of tissue engineered devices and drug delivery systems. Most biodegradable polymers suffer from a short half life due to rapid degradation upon implantation, exceedingly high stiffness, and limited ability to functionalize th...

Anodic fluorination of dithioacetals bearing electron-withdrawing ester, acetyl, amide, and nitrile groups at their α-positions was comparatively studied using various supporting poly(HF) salts like Et3N·nHF (n = 3-5) and Et4NF·nHF (n = 3-5). In the former two cases, the corresponding α-fluorination products or fluorodesulfurization products were obtained selectively depending on supporting pol...

This article reviews the degradability of chemically synthesized bioelastomers, mainly designed for soft tissue repair. These bioelastomers involve biodegradable polyurethanes, polyphosphazenes, linear and crosslinked poly(ether/ester)s, poly(epsilon-caprolactone) copolymers, poly(1,3-trimethylene carbonate) and their copolymers, poly(polyol sebacate)s, poly(diol-citrates) and poly(ester amide)...

Poly (ether-block-amide) /poly (ethylene glycol)/ carbon nanotubes mixed matrix membranes have been successfully fabricated using solvent evaporation method to determine the effect of ethylene oxide groups on the performance of produced membranes. The effects of CNTs (2-8 wt%) and PEG (up to 50 wt%)were investigated in both single and mixed gas test setup in different temperature and pressure. ...

Purpose: To formulate and evaluate pH-sensitive controlled release cefixime microspheres based on crosslinked chitosan and acryl amide-grafted-poly ethylene glycol Method: pH sensitive interpenetrating network (IPN) cefixime microspheres based on chitosan, its grafted copolymer, and hydrolyzed grafted copolymer were prepared by precipitation and crosslinking methods. The formulations were chara...

Micropatterning strategies often call for attachment of non-fouling biomaterials and immobilization of proteins in order to create biosensing surfaces or to control cell-surface interactions. Our laboratory has made frequent use of hydrogel photolithography - a micropatterning process for immobilizing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel microstructures on glass surfaces. In the present study w...

We have previously reported of labeled reversible and irreversible EGFR inhibitors, such as 4-(3,4-dichloro-6-fluoroanilino)-6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline (ML01) and 6-acrylamido-4-(3,4-dichloro-6-fluoroanilino)quinazoline (ML03), to be suboptimal as imaging agents. On the basis of these studies, a new generation of novel, more chemically stable irreversible inhibitors was labeled with carbon-11 as ...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to compare the flexural strength of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and bis-acryl composite resin reinforced with polyethylene and glass fibers. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three groups of rectangular test specimens (n = 15) of each of the two resin/fiber reinforcement were prepared for flexural strength test and unreinforced group served as the control. Specimens w...

over other materials. The aim of this work was to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxicity of two bis-acryl composite resins (Protemp 4 and Luxatemp Star), obtained at 1, 7 and 40 days after mixing the resin components, using a standardized assay employing human primary cells closely related to oral tissues. Human gingival fibroblast cell cultures were exposed for 24 h to either bis-acryl composite r...