Novel micelle releasing systems; complex formation of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)/poly(epsilon-caprolactone) block copolymer micelles with poly(acrylic acid)

摘要

Polymeric micelles derived from amphiphilic block copolymers have been widely pursued especially for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs because they have shown the enhanced therapeutic efficacy of drugs with reducing unwanted toxic side effects.~1,2 The high potnetial of polymeric micelles as a drug carrier lies in their unique characteristics such as nano-size and thermodynamic stability. In addition, their core-shell structure can mimic the naturally occurring transport systems such as plasma lipoproteins. Therefore, they may satisfy the structural aspect to act as a transport system. In recent researches, the hydrophilic outer shells of micelles were newly designed and modified to provide the system with another function other than their intrinsic functions of the micelle stabilization in an aqueous phase and the interaction with biocomponents. In a recnet report, we described the formation and characteristics of micelles based on diblock copolymers of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOz) and poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL)~3.