A vesicle system is described that possesses a pH-induced "breathing" feature and consists of a three-layered wall structure. The "breathing" feature consists of a highly reversible vesicle volume change by a factor of ca. 7, accompanied by diffusion of species into and out of the vesicles with a relaxation time of ca. 1 min. The triblock copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)(45)-block-polystyrene(130)-block-poly(2-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate)(120) (PEO(45)-b-PS(130)-b-PDEA(120)) was synthesized via ATRP. Self-assembly into vesicles was carried out at a pH of ca.10.4. The vesicle wall was shown by cryo-TEM to consist of a sandwich of two external ca. 4 nm thick continuous PS layers and one ca. 17 nm thick PDEA layer in the middle. As the pH decreases, both the vesicle size and the thickness of all three layers increase. The increase of the thickness of the intermediate PDEA layer arises from the protonation and hydration, but the swelling is constrained by the PS layers. The increase of the thickness of the two PS layers is a result of an increasing incompatibility and an accompanying sharpening of the interface between the PS layers and the PDEA layer. Starting at a pH slightly below 6, progressive swelling of the PDEA layer with decreasing pH induces a cracking of the two PS layers and also a sharp increase of the vesicle size and the wall thickness. By pH 3.4, the vesicle size has increased by a factor of approximately 1.9 and the wall shows a cracked surface. These changes between pH 10.4 and 3.4 are highly reversible with the relaxation time of ca. 1 min and can be performed repeatedly. The change in the wall structure not only increases dramatically the wall permeability to water but also greatly expands the rate of proton diffusion from practically zero to extremely rapid.

The integrity of block copolymer micelles is important for their effectiveness and successful delivery of the incorporated drugs. Here we evaluate the integrity of poly(caprolactone)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) micelles in media of varying chemical complexity and in cells by using fluorogenic micelles. Fluorogenic dye fluorescein-5-carbonyl azide diacetate was covalently attached to the micelle-core-forming part of the block copolymer, poly(caprolactone). The fluorescence was not detectable unless the poly(caprolactone)21-b-poly(ethylene oxide)45 micelles were destroyed and the fluorogenic dye was activated by deesterification. The fluorescence of the activated dye from destroyed micelles was easily detectable in various media and in cells. Micelles were stable in simple media such as phosphate-buffered saline but disassembled to varying extents with increasing chemical complexity of the media and addition of serum. The integrity of the internalized micelles within the cells showed a time-dependent decrease but remained largely preserved (80%) after 20 h of incubation with cells. A proof of principle was also demonstrated in vivo in mice. The fluorogenic approach to micelle integrity assessment presented herein should lend itself to other block copolymer micelles and assessments of their integrity in complex biological systems in vitro and in vivo.

This work describes a versatile and universal polycation system based on oligoamines grafted on natural polysaccharides that is capable of complexing various plasmids and administering them into various cells in high yield to produce a desired protein. These polycations are expected to better meet the requirements for effective complexation and delivery of plasmid or an antisense and to biodegrade into nontoxic components at a controlled rate. The developed biodegradable polycations are based on spermine, a natural tetramine, conjugated to dextran or arabinogalactan. These polycations were prepared by reductive amination of oxidized polysaccharides with the desired oligoamines. The Schiff base conjugates thus obtained were reduced to the stable amine conjugates by sodium borohydride. Over 300 different polycations were prepared starting from various polysaccharides and oligoamines, mainly oligoamines of two to four amino groups. Although most of these conjugates formed stable complexes with various plasmids as determined by turbidity experiments, only a few polycations were found to be active in transfecting cells. This work indicates that the structure of the polycation plays a significant role in the transfection activity of polycations.

The self-assembly of the biamphiphilic triblock copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(caprolactone)-b-poly(acrylic acid) into polymer vesicles is studied. The vesicles provide both biocompatibility and biodegradability. Moreover, the biamphiphilic nature of the triblock copolymer provides different surface properties in the interior and in the outer interface of the vesicles. Preparation of the aggregates by direct dissolution of the copolymer in a solution of albumin does not alter the morphology of the aggregates, and thus, they have the potential to immobilize protein molecules. Since a part of the protein is encapsulated in the interior of the vesicles, they can be used as nanocontainers. A further fraction of the protein is bound to the outer interface, which is primarily composed of the poly(acrylic acid) tails. Immobilization of protein on the outer interface can stabilize the colloidal particles and also provide them with a biofunctional component.

Dextran-spermine cationic polysaccharide was prepared by means of reductive amination between oxidized dextran and the natural oligoamine spermine. The formed Schiff-base imine-based conjugate was reduced with borohydride to obtain the stable amine-based conjugate. The transfection efficiency of the synthetic dextran-spermine was assessed in vitro on HEK293 and NIH3T3 cell lines and found to be as high as the DOTAP/Chol 1/1 lipid-based transfection reagent. Modification of the dextran-spermine polycation with polyethylene glycol resulted in high transfection yield in serum-rich medium. Intramuscular injection in mice of dextran-spermine-pSV-LacZ complex induced high local gene expression compared to low expression of the naked DNA. Intravenous injection of a dispersion of the dextranspermine-pSV-LacZ complex resulted with no expression in all examined organs. When the partially PEGylated dextranspermine-pSV-LacZ complex was intravenously applied, a high gene expression was detected mainly in the liver. Preliminary targeting studies indicated that the PEGylated dextran-spermine-pSV-LacZ complex bound to galactose receptor of liver parenchymal cells rather than the mannose receptor of liver nonparenchymal cells. This work offers a new biodegradable polycation based on natural components, which is capable of transfecting cells and tissues in vitro and in vivo.

About the size of it: A series of polystyrene‐block‐poly(acrylic acid) (PS‐b‐PAA) block copolymers were developed in which the length of the PAA block was kept constant and the length of the PS block was varied. This allowed a study of the effect of the PAA/PS block ratio on the vesicle sizes as well as on the wall thicknesses.

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A study is presented of the formation of a kippah or hemispherical dome structure, a new morphology generated when a vesicle completely collapses to a hollow hemisphere. Justification for the new name is given in the Introduction. Relatively large vesicles of ca. approximately 500 nm in diameter were prepared from poly(acrylic acid)-block-polystyrene (PAA-b-PS) amphiphilic copolymer in the dioxane/water system. The vesicle specimens for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were prepared using four different methods: drying under ambient conditions, freeze-drying, freeze-drying and subsequent resuspension in water, and drying under vacuum. The formation of the kippah was found to be strongly influenced by the method of preparation. When the vesicles were allowed to dry on the grid, either by drying under ambient conditions or by direct freeze-drying, "normal" vesicles (i.e., not kippah) with the classical indentation pattern were the only structures to be observed. Kippah vesicles, on the other hand, were obtained only by freeze-drying and subsequent rehydration in water or by direct drying under vacuum where no freezing is involved. The cause of the kippah vesicle formation is not yet completely understood for all methods of preparation; however, it was postulated to be strongly influenced by one or more of the following parameters: the relative flexibility of the vesicle wall, pressure gradient, and surface tension. Unlike "normal" vesicles, which exhibit, in TEM, a classical indentation pattern, kippah vesicles appear nearly round but with average wall thickness twice as large as in the "normal" vesicles. The study illustrates also the usefulness of specimen tilting in the analysis of the kippah. In addition, specimen tilting was found to allow the unambiguous determination of the orientation of the kippah on the surface (i.e., open-side-up or open-side-down).