Funktionale Polymere im Alltag: Vielseitig

With some selected examples the important role of functional polymers in daily life is demonstrated. Although added in very small amounts, these macromolecules largely influence the physical properties of the total system. Main applications are laundry and detergents, paper and textile manufacturing, pharmaceutical formulations, food processing and cosmetics. In these applications, functional polymers are used due to their ability to disperse, solubilize, agglomerate, adsorb, flocculate, solidify or thicken other molecules in the system.     

Polyamine‐Mediated Stoichiometric Assembly of Ribonucleoproteins for Enhanced mRNA Delivery

Messenger RNA (mRNA) represents a promising class of nucleic acid drugs. Although numerous carriers have been developed for mRNA delivery, the inefficient mRNA expression inside cells remains a major challenge. Inspired by the dependence of mRNA on 3′‐terminal polyadenosine nucleotides (poly A) and poly A binding proteins (PABPs) for optimal expression, we complexed synthetic mRNA containing a poly A tail with PABPs in a stoichiometric manner and stabilized the ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) with a family of polypeptides bearing different arrangements of cationic side groups. We found that the molecular structure of these polypeptides modulates the degree of PABP‐mediated enhancement of mRNA expression. This strategy elicits an up to 20‐fold increase in mRNA expression in vitro and an approximately fourfold increase in mice. These findings suggest a set of new design principles for gene delivery by the synergistic co‐assembly of mRNA with helper proteins.