Facile synthesis of biodegradable co-polymers for drug delivery applications

摘要

A facile route to biocompatible poly(lacticacid-co-glycolicacid)-co-poly(ethyleneglycolm-ethacrylate)(PLGA-PEGMA) block copolymersis described utilising a combination ofring-opening polymerisation (ROP) andReversible Addition Fragmentation ChainTransfer (RAFT) methods. A series of PLGAPEGMApolymers varying in co-monomercontent and block length were synthesised withlow polydispersities. All the block co-polymersformed micelles in aqueous solution as shownby dynamic light scattering, while criticalmicelle concentrations were found to be in themicromolar range. The polymer micelles wereable to encapsulate model drugs(carboxyfluorescein and fluoresceinisothiocyanate) and selected co-polymermicelles incubated with 3T3 fibroblasts as amodel cell line were rapidly taken up asindicated by fluorescence microscopy assays.The combination of the polymer chemistriesopens the way to highly flexible syntheses ofmicellar drug carrier systems.