Self‐assembling amphiphilic PEGylated block copolymers obtained through RAFT polymerization for drug‐delivery applications

Abstract

In this work, ring‐opening polymerization and reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) have been employed for the production of block copolymers where the backbone is brushed with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and polyester chains. Because of their amphiphilic properties, they are able to self‐assemble in water, forming micelles. Molecular dynamics simulations have been accomplished to study the behavior of the copolymer single chain in water, and the self‐assembly properties have been characterized and correlated to the copolymer structure in terms of critical micellar concentration and particle size. As a proof of their flexibility, these materials have been employed for the production of polymer–lipid hybrid nanoparticles with tunable dimensions (from 120 to 260 nm) adopted for the controlled release of anticancer compounds (paclitaxel and curcumin). © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43084.

Zwitterionic Nanocarrier Surface Chemistry Improves siRNA Tumor Delivery and Silencing Activity Relative to Polyethylene Glycol

“…This could possibly be due to unfavorable steric properties of the bulky POEGMA side chains, which could potentially reduce core stability at baseline. 32 While some heparin may be a binding free, uncomplexed polymer, the results of our Ribogreen assay (Figure 2A) indicate that the packaging of siRNA is the same for all polyplexes at N + :P − 20, so the molar amount of free polymer is consistent between all polyplexes and unlikely to influence these comparisons. Heparin binding free polymer is also unlikely based on the polyplex DLS traces (Figure 2D–I) that do not show evidence of free polymer and because any uncomplexed polymer in solution is micellar (due to the presence of hydrophobic BMA in the core-forming block), thus making DMAEMA unavailable for binding.…”

Kinetics of the Aqueous-Phase Copolymerization of MAA and PEGMA Macromonomer: Influence of Monomer Concentration and Side Chain Length of PEGMA

“…During the last few years, the use of monomers with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) side chain in the synthesis of polymeric materials (as comonomers in aqueous-phase solution copolymerization [1][2][3] or as reactive stabilizers in several heterogeneous polymerization systems) [4][5][6][7] has gained increasing attention. Water-soluble polymers are used in a variety of applications including coatings, cosmetics, antiflocculants, textiles, superabsorbers and water treatment [8][9][10].…”

RAFT Macro-Surfmers and Their Use in the ab Initio RAFT Emulsion Polymerization To Decouple Nanoparticle Size and Polymer Molecular Weight

“…21 Since the chain transfer agent, a thio compound, ideally remains attached to each polymer chain at the end of the reaction, 18 it can be used to restart the growth of these "dormant" polymers by further addition of the same or of a different monomer opening to the production of well-defined block copolymers. 22 Ferguson et al 23 used these RAFT characteristics to produce amphiphilic species able to act in the EP both as surfactants and MW controlling agents. This ab initio RAFT emulsion polymerization (AIREP) does not require toxic surfactants and has opened the possibility of producing NPs with different MWs, surface functionalizations, and morphologies.…”