pH-Induced Micellization of Sulfamethazine-Coupled MPEG-PCLA Block Copolymer

摘要

With the growing interest for drug delivery systems,amphiphilic block copolymers have attracted considerable attention as drug carriers in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.The enormous potential of amphiphilic copolymers in these fields is originated from their micellar structure,consisting of hydrophobic inner core and hydro-philic outer corona.The inner core serves as a depot for water-insoluble drugs and regulates the retention as well as the release of them.Meanwhile the exterior corona with appreciable biocompatibility has the role of a palisade,protecting from protein adsorption and the subsequent non-specific uptake by mononuclear phagocytic systems (MPS) after intravenous injection.More recently polymeric micelles have been developed as gene carriers in multiple pharmaceutical applications and carriers for various contrasting agents in diagnostic imaging.To improve the delivery efficiency,the micelles have been required to response to the environment such as stimuli,pH,temperature,electric field and so on.The control of micellization behavior in response to the exterior stimuli would make it possible to administrate drugs selectively on a targeted site.