title: Synthesis and self-assembly of thermoresponsive amphiphilic biodegradable polypeptide/poly(ethyl ethylene phosphate) block copolymers.
abstract: We report the design and synthesis of new fully biodegradable thermoresponsive amphiphilic poly(γ-benzyl L-glutamate)/poly(ethyl ethylene phosphate) (PBLG-b-PEEP) block copolymers by ring-opening polymerization of N-carboxy-γ-benzyl L-glutamate anhydride (BLG-NCA) with amine-terminated poly(ethyl ethylene phosphate) (H2N-PEEP) as a macroinitiator. The fluorescence technique demonstrated that the block copolymers could form micelles composed of a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic shell in aqueous solution. The morphology of the micelles as determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was spherical. The size and critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of the micelles showed a decreasing trend as the PBLG segment increased. However, UV/Vis measurements showed that these block copolymers exhibited a reproducible temperature-responsive behavior with a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) that could be tuned by the block composition and the concentration.
authors.affiliation: Liaoning Province Key Laboratory for Green Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry of Advanced Materials, College of Chemistry, Liaoning University, No. 66 Chongshan Mid-Road, Huanggu District, Shenyang, Liaoning Province (P.R. China), Fax: (+86) 24-62202380.
authors.forename: Qiuhua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Renyu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Xiuping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ximing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Guolin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D008823:Micelles; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D066244:Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D008823:Micelles; D011108:Polymers; D014867:Water
keywords: block copolymers; drug delivery; peptides; polymers; self-assembly