The influence of pendant hydroxyl groups on enzymatic degradation and drug delivery of amphiphilic poly[glycidol-block-(epsilon-caprolactone)] copolymers.

An amphiphilic diblock copolymer PG-b-PCL with well-controlled structure and pendant hydroxyl groups along hydrophilic block was synthesized by sequential anionic ring-opening polymerization. The micellization and drug release of PG-b-PCL copolymers using pyrene as a fluorescence probe were investigated for determining the influences of copolymer composition and lipase concentration on drug loading capacity and controlled release behavior. The biodegradation of PG-b-PCL copolymers was studied with microspheres as research samples. It has been concluded that the polar hydroxyl groups along each repeat unit of hydrophilic PG block in PG-b-PCL copolymer have great influences on drug encapsulation, drug release, and enzymatic degradation of micelles and microspheres.