Reduction- and thermo-sensitive star polypeptide micelles and hydrogels for on-demand drug delivery

摘要

Dual stimuli-sensitive star polypeptide was for the first time synthesized and self-assembled into reduction- and thermo-sensitive micelles and hydrogels, demonstrating tunable size, mechanical and triggered drug-release properties useful for on-demand drug delivery. Stimuli-sensitive polymer micelles and hydrogels that respond to various stimuli such as temperature, pH, light, redox, to name a few, can not only maximize the drug efficacy and minimize side effects but realize on-demand drug dosing, holding great potential for clinical medicine and oncology. Because of their inherent ionizable groups, hierarchical self-assembly and multiple structures, biodegradable polypeptides and/or protein hybrids have been intensively studied for stimuli-sensitive drug/gene/siRNA delivery.