Premium
Water Soluble Star‐block Copolypeptides: Towards Biodegradable Nanocarriers for Versatile and Simultaneous Encapsulation
Author(s) -
Zhuang Wensheng,
Liao Lihui,
Chen Heru,
Wang Jinzhi,
Pan Ying,
Zhang Lumian,
Liu Daojun
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.200800807
Subject(s) - nanocarriers , cationic polymerization , amphiphile , polymerization , ring opening polymerization , chemistry , encapsulation (networking) , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , hydrophobe , copolymer , materials science , polymer , organic chemistry , drug delivery , computer science , computer network , biochemistry , engineering
The synthesis of water soluble star‐block copolypeptides and their encapsulation properties are described. The star‐block copolypeptides, obtained by ring‐opening polymerization of amino acid N ‐carboxyanhydrides, consist of a PEI core, a hydrophobic polyphenylalanine or polyleucine inner shell, and a negatively charged polyglutamate outer shell. The encapsulation study showed that these water soluble, amphiphilic star‐block copolypeptides could simultaneously encapsulate versatile compounds ranging from hydrophobic to anionic and cationic hydrophilic guest molecules.