Well-defined A 3 (BC) 3 type amphiphilic miktoarm star polymers poly(3-caprolactone) 3 -[poly (2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate)] 3 [(PCL) 3 -(PDEAEMA-b-PPEGMA) 3 ] and their pH-sensitive self-assembled polymeric micelles were developed as anticancer vehicles for improved cancer therapy. These miktoarm star polymers were synthesized by a combination of ring opening polymerization (ROP) and continuous activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP) and characterized by GPC and 1 H NMR measurement. The CMC values of the miktoarm star polymers in aqueous solution were extremely low (0.0029-0.0035 mg mL À1 ), suggesting that the micelles are relatively stable in solution. The selfassembled blank and doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded micelles were spherical in morphology with average sizes of 110-240 nm depending on the architecture of the copolymers, which were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). When decreasing pH from 7.4 to 5.0, the micelles underwent globule-uneven-extended conformational transitions, and in vitro drug release rates were significantly accelerated, owing to the swelling of micelles at lower pH conditions caused by the protonation of tertiary amine groups of DEAEMA. Moreover, the drug release profiles at different pH values were well fitted by a semi-empirical equation. The in vitro cytotoxicity of DOX-loaded micelles against HepG2 cells suggested that DOX-loaded (PCL) 3 -(PDEAEMA-b-PPEGMA) 3 micelles exhibited similar anti-tumor activities to free DOX, with at least 80% decrease in cell viability after 48 h incubation. Intracellular uptake demonstrated that DOX was delivered into the cells effectively after the cells were incubated with DOX-loaded micelles. The results demonstrated that the pHresponsive (PCL) 3 -(PDEAEMA-b-PPEGMA) 3 micelles could be used as latent vehicles for delivering hydrophobic anticancer drugs with controlled and sustained release behavior.

Amphiphilic A2(BC)2 miktoarm star polymers [poly(ϵ-caprolactone)]2-[poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-b- poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate)]2 [(PCL)2(PDEA-b-PPEGMA)2] were developed by a combination of ring opening polymerization (ROP) and continuous activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP). The critical micelle concentration (CMC) values were extremely low (0.0024 to 0.0043 mg/mL), depending on the architecture of the polymers. The self-assembled empty and doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded micelles were spherical in morphologies, and the average sizes were about 63 and 110 nm. The release of DOX at pH 5.0 was much faster than that at pH 6.5 and pH 7.4. Moreover, DOX-loaded micelles could effectively inhibit the growth of cancer cells HepG2 with IC50 of 2.0 μg/mL. Intracellular uptake demonstrated that DOX was delivered into the cells effectively after the cells were incubated with DOX-loaded micelles. Therefore, the pH-sensitive (PCL)2(PDEA-b-PPEGMA)2 micelles could be a prospective candidate as anticancer drug carrier for hydrophobic drugs with sustained release behavior.

Multilamellar nanoparticles (NPs) are spontaneously formed when mixing two components with opposite charges, meaningful for drug delivery. However, details of NPs association and mechanisms of this process remain largely unknown, due to the limitation of experimental technique. In this work, we use dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulation for the first time to determine the structure−property relationships of multilamellar NPs formed by charged blends. As a case study, a system with polyanionic fondparinux (Fpx) and cationic derivatives squalenoyl (CSq, including Sq + and Sq ++ ) in aqueous media is investigated, with a focus on the optimized formation condition and mechanism of regular spherical multilamellar NPs. In particular, we find that highly ordered multilamellar structures tend to form when the nonbonded interaction between Fpx−CSq and hydrophobic interaction contributed by CSq are well-balanced. The DPD results strongly agree with corresponding experimental results of this novel nanoparticulate drug carrier. This study could help develop promising multilamellar NPs formed by charged blends through self-assembly for drug delivery.

Unimolecular polymeric micelles have several features, such as thermodynamic stability, small particle size, biocompatibility, and the ability to internalize hydrophobic molecules. These micelles have recently attracted significant attention in various applications, such as nano-reactors, catalysis, and drug delivery. However, few attempts have explored the formation mechanisms and conditions of unimolecular micelles due to limited experimental techniques. In this study, a unimolecular micelle system formed from β-cyclodextrin-graft-{poly(lactide)-block-poly(2-(dimethylamino) ethyl multimethacrylate)-block-poly[oligo (2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) methacrylate]} β-CD-g-(PLA-b-PDMAEMA-b-PEtOxMA) star-like block copolymers in aqueous media was investigated by dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) to explore the formation process of unimolecular micelles. The simulation results showed that using longer hydrophobic or pH-sensitive chains, shorter hydrophilic backbones, smaller hydrophilic side chain grafting density, and fewer polymer arms resulted in micellar aggregation. Furthermore, this unimolecular polymeric micelle could be used for encapsulating gold nanoparticles, whose mesoscopic structure was also explored. The gold nanoparticles tended to distribute in the middle layer formed by PDMAEMA, and the unimolecular micelles were capable of impeding gold nanoparticle aggregation. This study could help understand the formation mechanism of unimolecular micelles formed from star-like block copolymers in dilute solutions and offer a theoretical guide to the design and preparation of promising unimolecular polymeric micelles with targeting properties.

Indoor air quality is particularly important not only in schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other environments that accommodate sensitive people, but also in production places with high cleanliness requirements. At present, most researches are aimed at testing the mass concentration of contaminants and there are few characterizations of the release characteristics(that is, the release rate) of contaminants. Air pollutants are generally include particulate contaminants and gaseous contaminants. This paper takes cigarettes as typical representatives of particulate contaminants and takes the solid particulate matters PM2.5 produced by cigarettes as the research object. In the 30m3 air purification test chamber, the PM2.5 release rate produced by smoldering cigarette and the smoke generator, the diffusion rate and mass concentration of PM2.5 in the air purification test chamber were tested. According to linear regression, the fitting curve of PM2.5 mass concentration of cigarette smoldering and smoke generator was obtained and the release rate law and the static diffusion and dynamic diffusion law of PM2.5 in the test chamber were obtained. The research results can provide basic data when there are PM2.5 particulate matters pollution sources in the indoor environment and provide scientific and reasonable important basis for subsequent research on airflow organization, ventilation frequency, indoor cleanliness, etc.