Synthesis and Characterization of New Functional Polyelectrolytes Based on Carboxyl Containing Methacrylates

Abstract

Three new methacrylic monomers, 6-methacryloyloxyhexanoic acid, 6-(N-methacryloyl)aminohexanoic acid, and ethyl 6-(N-methacryloyl)-aminohexanoate, containing carboxyl groups spaced from the polymerizable double bond by a polymethylene chain, have been synthesized. Multifunctional polymeric materials were obtained by radical polymerization of these monomers with different vinyl monomers. The type and content of the functional groups was modulated on the basis of feed composition and the nature of the functional comonomer selected among 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, diethyleneglycol methacrylate, methacrylic acid, vinyl acetate, N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone, N-isopropylacrylamide, and 2-(N,N-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate. The solubility, molecular weight, and acid-base properties exhibited polyelectrolyte behavior for all copolymers in solution.

Bioerodible Polymeric Nanoparticles for Targeted Delivery of Proteic Drugs

“…9 10 These receptors can recognize the galactose units on the oligosaccharide chains of glycoproteins or on chemically galactosylated drug carriers. 11 In the framework of a long-standing activity in the development of biocompatible polymers for biomedical and tissue engineering applications, [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] in a previous paper 18 we reported the formulations of nanoparticles loaded with -interferon ( -IFN), a proteic drug widely used in the treatment of hepatitis C. These carriers were prepared in order to achieve targeted and controlled delivery of -IFN to hepatocytes, the liver parenchymal cells that are affected by hepatitis C viral infection. To the best of our knowledge, no previous report on the targeted delivery of drugs to liver hepatocytes by biodegradable nanoparticles is present in the literature.…”