pH‐Responsive PEG‐Poly(β‐amino ester) Block Copolymer Micelles with a Sharp Transition

Abstract

Summary: A pH‐sensitive block copolymer is synthesized by step polymerization and its pH‐sensitive micellization‐demicellization behavior is studied. This polymer has a hydrophilic MPEG (shell) and hydrophobic but pH‐sensitive poly(β‐amino ester) (core), which can form a self‐assembled micelle. As confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS), this polymer shows a sharp pH‐sensitive micellization‐demicellization behavior. It is confirmed that the pH sensitivity is affected by the molecular weight ratio between the MPEG and poly(β‐amino ester).

Polymeric micelles: authoritative aspects for drug delivery

“…Most of the tumors are poorly perfused and hence an altered metabolic pathway with subsequent glycolysis is being followed, leading to elevation in the levels of lactic acid within the interstitia and in effect lowering the pH value at that particular site [287][288][289]. This served as the basis for the development of pH-sensitive polymeric micelles.…”

pH-sensitive micelles self-assembled from polymer brush (PAE-<em>g</em>-cholesterol)-<em>b</em>-PEG-<em>b</em>-(PAE-<em>g</em>-cholesterol) for anticancer drug delivery and controlled release

“…The results showed that the drug release behavior was influenced significantly by the pH values, and the drug release rate increased with decreasing pH. 33,38 Laskar's group designed and synthesized pH-sensitive cholesterol-containing polymeric micelles for use as CPT carriers. The CPT release could be triggered by hydrolysis of the ester linkages under acidic conditions, indicating good chemotherapeutic activity of the CPT-loaded polymeric micelles.…”

Synthesis and characterization of pH-responsive diblock copolymers with cadaverine side groups

“…Synthesis and characterization of the macroinitiator, monomers, and polymers PEG-based macroinitiators have been widely used in preparing diblock copolymers due to their steric stabilization, biocompatibility, and water solubility provided by the PEG block [47][48][49][50][51][52]. In this research, mPEG-based macroinitiator was prepared from 0.5-to 1.0-mol/L feed ratio of ACVA-Cl and mPEG according to the literature [53].…”