Wei Hong-Xiang, Liu Ming-Hsin, Wang Tzu-Ying, Shih Meng-Hsiu, Yu Jiashing, Yeh Yi-Cheun
Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
Biomacromolecules. 2025 Apr 14;26(4):2116-2130. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.4c01202. Epub 2025 Mar 11.
Stimuli-responsive polymeric vehicles can change their physical or chemical properties when exposed to internal or external triggers, enabling precise spatiotemporal control of drug release. Nevertheless, systematic research is lacking in preparing dual stimuli-responsive amphiphilic block copolymers with different hydrophilic/hydrophobic block ratios in forming self-assembled structures. Here, we synthesized two types of block copolymers consisting of the hydrophobic segments (i.e., pH-responsive 2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DEA) and ultrasound-responsive 2-methoxyethyl methacrylate (MEMA)) and hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether (mPEG) segments, forming mPEG--P(DEA--MEMA). These amphiphilic block copolymers can self-assemble to form polymeric micelles, and their structures (e.g., size) and properties (e.g., critical vesicle concentration, stability, stimuli-responsiveness to pH and ultrasound, drug loading efficiency, and controlled drug release performance) were thoroughly investigated. cell studies further demonstrate that ultrasound can efficiently trigger drug release from polymeric micelles, emphasizing their potential for controlled drug delivery in therapeutic applications.
刺激响应性聚合物载体在受到内部或外部触发时可改变其物理或化学性质，从而实现药物释放的精确时空控制。然而，在制备具有不同亲水/疏水嵌段比的双刺激响应性两亲嵌段共聚物以形成自组装结构方面，缺乏系统性研究。在此，我们合成了两种类型的嵌段共聚物，其由疏水链段（即pH响应性的甲基丙烯酸2-(二乙氨基)乙酯(DEA)和超声响应性的甲基丙烯酸2-甲氧基乙酯(MEMA)）和亲水性聚(乙二醇)甲醚(mPEG)链段组成，形成mPEG-P(DEA-MEMA)。这些两亲嵌段共聚物可自组装形成聚合物胶束，并对其结构（如尺寸）和性质（如临界囊泡浓度、稳定性、对pH和超声的刺激响应性、载药效率以及药物控释性能）进行了深入研究。细胞研究进一步表明，超声可有效触发聚合物胶束中的药物释放，突出了其在治疗应用中药物控释的潜力。
