No abstract

Novel sheddable micelles having hydrophilic coronas capable of being shed from biodegradable polylactide (PLA) cores by the cleavage of disulfide linkages in response to thiols were prepared by aqueous micellization of PLA-based amphiphilic block copolymers functionalized with disulfides at block junctions. These well-defined copolymers were synthesized by a combination of ring-opening polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization in the presence of a new disulfide-functionalized double-head initiator having both terminal OH and Br groups. (1)H NMR and GPC results indicate that both polymerizations were well-controlled with molecular weight distribution as low as M(w)/M(n) < 1.2. Aqueous micellization to form core/shell micelles with disulfides at the interface of PLA cores and hydrophilic coronas and their thiol-responsive degradation were investigated. In the presence of water-soluble thiols, disulfide linkages in the micelles were cleaved and hydrophilic coronas were lost, causing PLA cores to precipitate due to the loss of colloidal stability. In a biomedical perspective, the new sheddable micelles were not cytotoxic and hence biocompatible.

Thiol-responsive symmetric triblock copolymers having single disulfide linkages in the middle blocks (called mono-cleavable block copolymers, ss-ABP(2)) were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization in the presence of a disulfide-labeled difunctional Br-initiator. These brush-like triblock copolymers consist of a hydrophobic polyacrylate block having pendent oligo(propylene oxide) and a hydrophilic polymethacrylate block having pendent oligo(ethylene oxide). Gel permeation chromatography and (1)H NMR results confirmed the synthesis of well-defined mono-cleavable block copolymers and revealed that polymerizations were well controlled. Because of amphiphilic nature, these copolymers self-assembled to form colloidally stable micelles above critical micellar concentration of 0.032 mg · mL(-1). In response to reductive reactions, disulfides in thiol-responsive micelles were cleaved. Atomic force microscopy and dynamic light scattering analysis suggested that the cleavage of disulfides caused dissociation of micelles to smaller-sized assembled structures in water. Moreover, in a biomedical perspective, the mono-cleavable block copolymer micelles are not cytotoxic and thus biocompatible.

In vitro evaluation of bone matrix deposition by Von-Kossa, Alizarin Red staining and atomic absorption spectroscopy .