School of Chemistry, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel.
The Center for Physics and Chemistry of Living Systems, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.
ACS Macro Lett. 2023 Jun 20;12(6):814-820. doi: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.3c00153. Epub 2023 Jun 5.
Di- and triblock amphiphiles can form different mesophases ranging from micelles to hydrogels depending on their chemical structures, hydrophilic to hydrophobic ratios, and their ratio in the mixture. In addition, their different architectures dictate their exchange rate between the assembled and unimer states and consequently affect their responsiveness toward enzymatic degradation. Here we report the utilization of the different reactivities of di- and triblock amphiphiles, having exactly the same hydrophilic to lipophilic balance, toward enzymatic degradation as a tool for programming formulations to undergo sequential enzymatically induced transitions from (i) micelles to (ii) hydrogel and finally to (iii) dissolved polymers. We show that the rate of transition between the mesophases can be programmed by changing the ratio of the amphiphiles in the formulation, and that the hydrogels can maintain encapsulated cargo, which was loaded into the micelles. The reported results demonstrate the ability of molecular architecture to serve as a tool for programming smart formulations to adopt different structures and functions.
两亲嵌段共聚物可以根据其化学结构、亲水亲油比以及混合物中的比例形成不同的中间相，范围从胶束到水凝胶。此外，它们的不同结构决定了它们在组装态和单体态之间的交换速率，从而影响它们对酶降解的响应性。在这里，我们报告了利用具有相同亲水亲脂平衡的两亲嵌段共聚物的不同反应性，作为一种工具来编程配方，使其经历顺序酶诱导的从（i）胶束到（ii）水凝胶，最后到（iii）溶解聚合物的转变。我们表明，可以通过改变配方中两亲物的比例来编程中间相之间的转变速率，并且水凝胶可以保持封装的货物，该货物被加载到胶束中。所报道的结果证明了分子结构作为编程智能配方以采用不同结构和功能的工具的能力。
