title: Blending of diblock and triblock copolypeptide amphiphiles yields cell penetrating vesicles with low toxicity.
abstract: We prepared dual hydrophilic triblock copolypeptide vesicles that form both micron and nanometer scale vesicles in aqueous media. The incorporation of terminal homoarginine segments into methionine sulfoxide-based vesicles was found to significantly enhance their cellular uptake compared to a non-ionic control. We also demonstrated that diblock and triblock copolypeptides with similar hydrophobic domains were found to mix well and form vesicle populations with uniform compositions. Blending of amphiphiles in vesicle nanocarriers was found to impart these materials with many advantageous properties, including good cellular uptake while maintaining minimal toxicity, as well as biological responsiveness to promote vesicle disruption and release of encapsulated cargos.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: April R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Uh-Joo
authors.initials: UJ
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Kamei
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Deming
mesh_terms: D057005:Bioengineering / Q000379:methods; D057846:Cell-Penetrating Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008715:Methionine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D015394:Molecular Structure; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D022161:Transport Vesicles / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D057846:Cell-Penetrating Peptides; D004337:Drug Carriers; D010455:Peptides; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D008715:Methionine; C013111:methionine sulfoxide
keywords: blends; copolymer; polypeptide; vesicle