title: Hydrolytic degradation of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polycaprolactone worm micelles.
abstract: Spherical micelles and nanoparticles made with degradable polymers have been of great interest for therapeutic application, but degradation-induced changes in a spherical morphology can be subtle and mechanism/kinetics appears poorly understood. Here, we report the first preparation of giant and flexible worm micelles self-assembled from degradable copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polycaprolactone. Such worm micelles spontaneously shorten to generate spherical micelles, triggered by polycaprolactone hydrolysis, with distinct mechanism and kinetics from that which occurs in bulk material.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.forename: Dennis E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Discher
mesh_terms: D006868:Hydrolysis; D008823:Micelles; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D008823:Micelles; D011091:Polyesters; C016240:polycaprolactone; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols