TY - JOUR
T1 - Poly(2-oxazoline)-Based Thermoresponsive Stomatocytes
AU - Terracciano, Roberto
AU - Liu, Yuechi
AU - Varanaraja, Zivani
AU - Godzina, Magdalena
AU - Yilmaz, Gokhan
AU - van Hest, Jan C.M.
AU - Becer, C. Remzi
PY - 2024/9/9
Y1 - 2024/9/9
N2 - The design of biocompatible and biodegradable nanostructures with controlled morphological features remains a predominant challenge in medical research. Stimuli-responsive vesicles offer significant advantages in drug delivery, biomedical applications, and diagnostic techniques. The combination of poly(2-oxazoline)s with biodegradable polymers could provide exceptional biocompatibility properties and be proposed as a versatile platform for the development of new medicines. Therefore, poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) and poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline) (PiPrOx) possessing a hydroxy terminal group that acts as an initiator for the ring-opening polymerization of d,l-lactide (DLLA) have been utilized in this study. The resulting amphiphilic block polymers were used to create polymersomes, which undergo solvent-dependent reorganization into bowl-shaped vesicles or stomatocytes. By blending PEtOx-b-PDLLA and PiPrOx-b-PDLLA copolymers, a thermoresponsive stomatocyte was generated, where the opening narrowed and irreversibly closed with a slight increase in the temperature. Detailed transmission electron microscopy analysis reveals the formation of both closed and fused stomatocytes upon heating the sample above the critical solution temperature of PiPrOx.
AB - The design of biocompatible and biodegradable nanostructures with controlled morphological features remains a predominant challenge in medical research. Stimuli-responsive vesicles offer significant advantages in drug delivery, biomedical applications, and diagnostic techniques. The combination of poly(2-oxazoline)s with biodegradable polymers could provide exceptional biocompatibility properties and be proposed as a versatile platform for the development of new medicines. Therefore, poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) and poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline) (PiPrOx) possessing a hydroxy terminal group that acts as an initiator for the ring-opening polymerization of d,l-lactide (DLLA) have been utilized in this study. The resulting amphiphilic block polymers were used to create polymersomes, which undergo solvent-dependent reorganization into bowl-shaped vesicles or stomatocytes. By blending PEtOx-b-PDLLA and PiPrOx-b-PDLLA copolymers, a thermoresponsive stomatocyte was generated, where the opening narrowed and irreversibly closed with a slight increase in the temperature. Detailed transmission electron microscopy analysis reveals the formation of both closed and fused stomatocytes upon heating the sample above the critical solution temperature of PiPrOx.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201369621&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.biomac.4c00726
DO - 10.1021/acs.biomac.4c00726
M3 - Article
C2 - 39146037
AN - SCOPUS:85201369621
SN - 1525-7797
VL - 25
SP - 6050
EP - 6059
JO - Biomacromolecules
JF - Biomacromolecules
IS - 9
ER -