Spain, Sebastian - University of Sheffield

个人简介

Dr. Spain received his MChem from the University of Durham, followed by a PhD from the same institution. He then moved to a postdoctoral positions at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Oxford (2008-10), and the School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham (2010-14). In 2014 he was appointed as a Lecturer at the University of Sheffield.

研究领域

My research interests lie at the interfaces of chemistry, biology and pharmacy, particularly the use of modern synthetic polymer chemistry for the development of new therapeutics and diagnostics. Particular areas of interest are outlined below. Stimuli-Responsive Materials Stimuli-responsive, or "smart", materials are those that display a non-linear change in properties (e.g. solubility) in the presence of an external trigger. By matching the stimulus to the biochemical environment of a certain disease or tissue the resulting property switch can be used target that site. For example, through use of a temperature responsive polymer the uptake of drug loaded particles into cells can be controlled in a temperature dependent manner. In addition to commonly used stimuli (e.g. pH or temperature) we have developed systems that respond to specific nucleic acid sequences, allowing far greater control over the switching process. We are now extending this research to target markers of immunological disease. Modular approaches to biomaterials Despite advances in controlled polymerisation, polymeric materials are, by their nature, disperse with a distribution of molecular weights/chain lengths. This dispersity leads to additional variables when comparing different materials which is particularly problematic in an already complex system such as a human cell. Modular approaches, where a core structure may be later decorated with functional components, allow many materials to be synthesised and compared while minimising variations in dispersity. Biological interactions with polymers Polymers have been used routinely in cosmetics and medicines for decades however there is increasing materials that have been "generally regarded as safe" may not always be so. I am interested in how synthetic polymers interact with biological entities, by what mechanism and how can altering polymer structure affect this interaction.

近期论文

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Purdie L, Alexander C, Spain SG & Magnusson JP (2016) Influence of polymer size on uptake and cytotoxicity of doxorubicin-loaded DNA–PEG conjugates. Bioconjugate Chemistry, 27(5), 1244-1252. View this article in WRRO Goncalves AD, Alexander C, Roberts CJ, Spain SG, Uddin S & Allen S (2016) The effect of protein concentration on the viscosity of a recombinant albumin solution formulation. RSC Advances, 6, 15143-15154. View this article in WRRO Sicilia G, Davis AL, Spain SG, Magnusson JP, Boase N, Thurecht KJ & Alexander C (2016) Synthesis of 19F Nucleic Acid–Polymer Conjugates as Real-Time MRI Probes of Biorecognition.. Polymer Chemistry. View this article in WRRO Loczenski Rose V, Shubber S, Sajeesh S, Spain SG, Puri S, Allen S, Lee D-K, Winkler GS & Mantovani G (2015) Phosphonium Polymethacrylates for Short Interfering RNA Delivery: Effect of Polymer and RNA Structural Parameters on Polyplex Assembly and Gene Knockdown. Biomacromolecules, 16(11), 3480-3490. Francini N, Purdie L, Alexander C, Mantovani G & Spain SG (2015) Multifunctional Poly[N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide] Copolymers via Postpolymerization Modification and Sequential Thiol–Ene Chemistry. Macromolecules. Mitchell DE, Lilliman M, Spain SG & Gibson MI (2014) Quantitative study on the antifreeze protein mimetic ice growth inhibition properties of poly(ampholytes) derived from vinyl-based polymers. Biomater. Sci., 2(12), 1787-1795.