Polymer-encased nanodiscs with improved buffer compatibility

1. Polymer-encased nanodiscs with a compatible buffer comprising:

a polymer comprising a styrene-maleic acid derivative repeating units that carries zero or nearly zero net negative charge:

wherein the distribution of styrene and maleic acid derivative repeating units is random, and the resultant nanodiscs are compatible with at least one of polyvalent cations, MgCl 2 , CaCl 2 , or pH <5, wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 , respectively, and the styrene and maleic acid are derivative units.

2. The nanodiscs of claim 1 , wherein at least one of R 2 or R 3 are bonded with the polymer repeating units via ester bond(s), ether bond(s), thioester bond(s), alkyl bond(s) or other chemical bonds; or wherein at least one of R 1 or R 4 are bonded with the polymer backbone via other forms of chemical bonding selected from an amide, ester, ether, silyl, or urea.

3. The nanodiscs of claim 1 , wherein R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 , are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen; deuterium; a halogen group; a nitrile group; a nitro group; an imide group; a hydroxyl group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group; a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted aryloxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkylthioxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted arylthioxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkylsulfoxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted arylsulfoxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl group; a substituted or unsubstituted silyl group; a substituted or unsubstituted boron group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkylamine group; a substituted or unsubstituted aralkylamine group; a substituted or unsubstituted arylamine group; a substituted or unsubstituted heteroarylamine group; a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group; and a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group including one or more of N, O, or S atoms; and wherein n is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175, 185, 190, 195, 200, or more.

4. The nanodiscs of claim 1 , wherein the polymer-encased nanodiscs with compatible buffer comprise:

a polymer comprising zwitterionic styrene-maleic acid (zSMA) repeating units:

wherein the distribution of styrene and maleic acid derivative repeating units is random, and the zSMA is compatible with at least one molecule or condition selected from the group consisting of polyvalent cations, MgCl 2 , CaCl 2 , and pH<5, wherein R 5 , R 6 , R 7 , R 8 , R 9 , R 10 , R 11 , R 12 , R 13 are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen; deuterium; a halogen group; a nitrile group; a nitro group; an imide group; a hydroxyl group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group; a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted aryloxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkylthioxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted arylthioxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkylsulfoxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted arylsulfoxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl group; a substituted or unsubstituted silyl group; a substituted or unsubstituted boron group; a substituted or unsubstituted alkylamine group; a substituted or unsubstituted aralkylamine group; a substituted or unsubstituted arylamine group; a substituted or unsubstituted heteroarylamine group; a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group; and a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group including one or more of N, O, or S atoms; and wherein n is 1 to 200.

5. The nanodiscs of claim 1 , wherein one or more end groups of zSMA are introduced by reversible addition—fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization in the preparation of zSMA using S-1-dodecyl-S′-(α,α′-dimethyl-α″-acetic acid)trithiocarbonate (DATC) as the chain transfer agent, wherein the end group are optionally C 12 H 25 —S—(C═S)—S—, or the one or more end groups of zSMA introduced by RAFT chain transfer agents that are cleaved or converted to other groups.

6. The nanodiscs of claim 1 , wherein the zSMA is prepared via other polymerization methods selected from the group consisting of anionic polymerization, cationic polymerization, conventional free radical polymerization, or other types of controlled/living free radical polymerization, atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), and nitroxide mediated polymerization (NMP).

7. The nanodiscs of claim 1 , wherein the maleic acid derivative unit is converted from maleic anhydride unit in a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer ratio of 4:1 to 1:4.

8. The nanodiscs of claim 1 , wherein a styrene repeating unit and a maleic acid derivative repeating unit are at least one of: arranged in an alternating manner; wherein a styrene repeating unit and a maleic acid derivative repeating unit are not arranged in an alternating manner; wherein a ratio of styrene repeating units to maleic acid derivative repeating is varied during synthesis; wherein a ratio of styrene repeating units to maleic acid derivative repeating is controlled during synthesis to control an average polymer molecular weight; wherein the polymer is formed into a nanodisc having a diameter that is tuned by controlling a size of the styrene-maleic acid derivative copolymers; or wherein a copolymer of styrene to maleic anhydride ratio is varied during synthesis based on a monomer feeding ratio resulting in copolymers that differ from a 1:1 alternation.