1. UGent contribution to PolExGene (WP 3 & WP 4) PolExGene Midterm meeting Ghent 17-18/12/2007 PBM G ent - G entU Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Group S. Van Vlierberghe, V. Vermeersch, P. Dubruel & E. Schacht

2. Overview Workpackage contents Work performed Ongoing & future plans S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 2

3. Workpackage Content S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 3 Workpackage 3: Development of CIP containing polymer membranes Development of polymer membranes by solvent-casting and electrospinning Characterisation through AFM, SEM, XPS, ATR-FTIR, TOF-SIMS Workpackage 4: Preparation of plasmids and CPP-containing polyplexes Study of the coating of polymer membranes with CPP-containing polyplexes

4. Polyimide modification (1 st approach) S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 4 PI aminopropylmethacrylamide gel-MOD MeOH, RT 5 w/v% gel

5. ATR-IR spectroscopy S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 5 Imide C=O asymmetric stretch at 1771 cm -1 Imide C=O symmetric stretch at 1703 cm -1 Imide C-N stretch at 1353 cm -1 Characteristic peaks of gel-MOD: 1556 cm -1 1665 cm -1 3274 cm -1

6. ATR-IR spectroscopy S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 6 1556 cm -1 1664 cm -1 3274 cm -1 gel-MOD is grafted on the PI membrane PI + // + gel-MOD

7. Atomic Force Microscopy S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 7 PI, 0.54 nmPI + //, 3.52 nm PI + gel-MOD, 0.92 nm

8. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 8 PIPI + // C79%74% N5%7% O16%19% PI PI + //

9. Polyimide modification (2 nd approach) S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 9 succinimidyl ester of 4-azido-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzoic acid (AFB) (5 mg/ml, in ethyl acetate) (5 w/v%, pH 8)

10. ATR-IR spectroscopy S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 10 1556 cm -1 1664 cm -1 gelatin is grafted on the PI membrane PI + AFB + gel

11. Atomic Force Microscopy S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 11 PI, 0.54 nmPI + AFB, 3.26 nm PI + AFB + gel, 1.93 nm

12. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 12 PIPI + AFBPI + AFB + gel C79%71%69% N5%6%11% O16%21%19% F0%1%

13. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 13 PIPI + AFBPI + AFB + gel C79%71%69% N5%6%11% O16%21%19% F0%1%

14. Static Contact Angle Measurements S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 14 SCA hydrophilicity

15. Preparation of polymer membranes based on gelatin type A (IEP = 8) (IEP gelatin B = 5). Preparation of polymer membranes based on gel-MOD + HA-MOD (1 – 5 w/v%) gel-MOD + CS-MOD (1 – 5 w/v%) SPR measurements: Study of interaction between gel-MOD (A, B) and polyplexes. WP 4: Coating of PI membranes with CPP-containing polyplexes PBM products sent out: Gelatin coated polyimide membranes (sent to Tübingen) Ongoing and future plans S. Van Vlierberghe – PolExGene Ghent - 17/12/2007 pag. 15