Modular approaches to multivalent and bioactive materials using supramolecular polymers.

A new and highly attractive supramol. system has been developed which is based on low mol. wt. biocompatible prepolymers end-functionalized with quadruple hydrogen bonding ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy) moieties. The non-covalent interactions between the UPy units link the prepolymers together. Because of the reversible nature of the hydrogen bonding this system can be perfectly used in a modular approach. We propose that UPy functionalized polymers and biomols. can assemble into bioactive materials that can be made multivalent by simply mixing in different epitopes. Several UPy mols. have been synthesized varying from fluorescent dyes to peptides and proteins. The recognition of avidin with UPy-biotin contg. supramol. polymer surfaces and the interactions between cells and UPy surfaces modified with cell adhesion peptides have been studied. In this way we propose to get exquisite control over processes such as adhesion, growth, proliferation and differentiation of cells, which are prerequisites for applications like tissue engineering.