An MPEG-PCL diblock copolymer was synthesized as an in situ gel carrier, and its phase transition behavior in aqueous solutions was examined. For comparison, aqueous solutions of Pluronic F-127, a widely used injectable gel-forming solution, were also studied. Both MPEG-PCL copolymer and Pluronic aqueous solutions were sols at room temperature. As the temperature was increased above room temperature, the diblock copolymer and Pluronic solutions underwent a sol-to-gel phase transition, which manifested as an increase in viscosity indicative of the formation of a gel. All of the copolymer solutions became gels at body temperature, although the gel viscosity increased with the increasing concentration of the MPEG-PCL diblock copolymer in the solution. In in vitro experiments, in which the gels were exposed to PBS, the MPEG-PCL gels maintained their structural integrity for more than 28 days, whereas the Pluronic gel disappeared within 2 days. The same results were observed when the polymer solutions were subcutaneously injected into rats. The MPEG-PCL gels maintained their structural integrity longer than 30 days, while the Pluronic gel could not be observed after 2 days. The ability of the gels as drug carriers was studied by measuring the release of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled bovine serum albumin (BSA-FITC) from MPEG-PCL diblock copolymer gels in vitro as well as in vivo. In vitro, BSA release was sustained above 20 days, with a greater release at lower diblock copolymer concentration; by contrast, Pluronic gels exhibited almost complete release of BSA-FITC within 1 day. When the BSA-FITC-loaded diblock copolymer and Pluronic solutions were subcutaneously injected into rats, they immediately transformed into a gel. In vivo, sustained release of BSA-FITC over 30 days was observed from the MPEG-PCL gel, whereas BSA-FITC release from the Pluronic gel ceased within 3 days. Collectively, the present findings show that MPEG-PCL diblock copolymer solutions are thermo-responsive and maintain their structural integrity under physiological conditions, indicating that they are suitable for use as injectable drug carriers.
MPEG–PCL diblock copolymers consisting of methoxy polyethylene glycol (MPEG, 750 g/mol) and poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) (PCL) were synthesized by ring‐opening polymerization. Aqueous solutions of the synthesized diblock copolymers were prepared by dissolving the MPEG–PCL diblock copolymers at concentrations in the range of 0–20 wt %. When the PCL molecular weight was 3000 or greater, the polymer was only partially soluble in water. As the temperature was increased from room temperature, the diblock copolymer solutions showed two phase transitions: a sol‐to‐gel transition and a gel‐to‐sol transition. The sol‐to‐gel phase transition temperature decreased substantially with increasing PCL length. The sol–gel–sol transition with the increase in temperature was confirmed by monitoring the viscosity as a function of temperature. The temperature ranges of the phase transitions measured by the tilting method were in full agreement with those determined from the viscosity measurements. The maximum viscosity of the copolymer solution increased with increasing hydrophobicity of the diblock copolymer and with increasing copolymer concentration. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses revealed that the diblock copolymers exhibited crystalline domains that favored the formation of an aggregated gel because of the tight aggregation and strong packing interactions between PCL blocks. Scanning electron micrographs of the diblock copolymer solutions in the sol state showed interconnected polyhedral pore structures, whereas those of the gel state revealed a fibrillar‐like morphology. Atomic force microscope (AFM) studies of the sol and gel surfaces showed that the sol surface was covered with fine globular particles, whereas the gel surface was covered with particles in micron‐scale irregular islets. These findings are consistent with uniform mixing of the diblock copolymer and water in the sol state, and aggregation of PCL blocks in the gel state. In conclusion, we confirm that the MPEG–PCL diblock copolymer solution exhibited a sol–gel–sol transition as a function of temperature. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5413–5423, 2006
Methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (MPEG-PCL) diblock copolymers were prepared by ring-opening polymerization and their phase transition behavior characterized as a function of temperature. The MPEG-PCL solutions formed a sol at room temperature, and underwent sol-to-gel followed by gel-to-sol phase transitions as the temperature was increased. The temperature range over which the solutions were in a gel state could be extended simply by increasing the PCL chain length in the diblock copolymer. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of MPEG-PCL solutions in the sol and gel states revealed near-regular and irregular porous structures, respectively. in vitro culture of rat bone marrow stromal cells (rBMSCs) on gel surfaces exhibited mostly round cells after 1 day of incubation. SEM images of the attached cells clearly showed the cell body and anchoring filopodia. Injection of room-temperature diblock copolymer solutions into Sprague-Dawley rats produced a gel at body temperature. In situ gel-forming scaffolds in vivo were successfully fabricated by simple subcutaneous injection of MPEG-PCL diblock copolymer solutions. The gel implants retained their original shape for 4 weeks without in- flammation at the injection site. Gel implants removed after 4 weeks were found to be surrounded by a thin fibrous capsule consisting of fibroblasts and blood vessels cells. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and von Kossa staining revealed bone formation in gel implants containing both rBMSCs and dexamethasone, with the degree of bone formation increasing markedly with increasing dexamethasone concentration. Thus, our results show that in situ gel scaffolds fabricated from MPEG-PCL diblock copolymer solutions containing dexamethasone enable multipotent rBMSCs to produce viable bone when injected into rats.
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