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Controlling Membrane Phase Separation of Polymersomes for Programmed Drug Release

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Abstract

Programmed release of small molecular drugs from polymersomes is of great importance in drug delivery. A significant challenge is to adjust the membrane permeability in a well-controlled manner. Herein, we propose a strategy for controlling membrane phase separation by photo-cross-linking of the membrane-forming blocks with different molecular architectures. We synthesized three amphiphilic block copolymers with different membrane-forming blocks, which are poly(ethylene oxide)43-b-poly((ε-caprolactone)45-stat-((a-(cinnamoyloxymethyl)-1,2,3-triazol)caprolactone)25) (PEO43-b-P(CL45-stat-CTCL25)), PEO43-b-P(CL108-stat-CTCL16), and PEO43-b-PCTCL4-b-PCL79. These polymers were self-assembled into polymersomes using either a solvent-switch or powder rehydration method, and the obtained polymersomes were characterized by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. Then the phase separation patterns within the polymersome membranes were investigated by mesoscopic dynamics (MesoDyn) simulations. To further confirm the change of the membrane permeability that resulted from the phase separation within the membrane, doxorubicin, as a small molecular drug, was loaded and released from the polymersomes. Due to the incompatibility between membrane-forming moieties (PCTCL and PCL), phase separation occurs and the release rate can be tuned by controlling the membrane phase pattern or by photo-cross-linking. Moreover, besides the compacting effect by formation of chemical bonds in the membrane, the cross-linking process can act as a driving force to facilitate the rearrangement and re-orientation of the phase pattern, which also influences the drug release behavior by modulating the cross-membrane distribution of the amorphous PCTCL moieties. In this way, the strategy of focusing on the membrane phase separation for the preparation of the polymersomes with finely tunable drug release rate can be envisioned and designed accordingly, which is of great significance in the field of delivery vehicles for programmed drug release.

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Acknowledgments

J. D. is financially supported by the National Natural Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 21925505) and Shanghai International Scientific Collaboration Fund (No. 21520710100). E. J. C. is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 2210010521), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2020M671197) and International Postdoctoral Exchange Fellowship Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China

    Shuai Chen & Jian-Zhong Du

  2. Department of Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China

    Shuai Chen, Erik Jan Cornel & Jian-Zhong Du

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  1. Shuai Chen
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  2. Erik Jan Cornel
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Correspondence to Jian-Zhong Du.

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Chen, S., Cornel, E.J. & Du, JZ. Controlling Membrane Phase Separation of Polymersomes for Programmed Drug Release. Chin J Polym Sci 40, 1006–1015 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-022-2683-7

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