This study involves the bottom-up design and tunability of responsive, peptide-based block copolymers. The self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers is dictated primarily by the balance between the hydrophobic core volume and the hydrophilic corona. In these studies, amphiphilic diblock, triblock and star copolymers containing poly(lysine) (PK) and poly(glutamic acid) (PE) were synthesized and their solution properties studied using dynamic light scattering, circular dichroism spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. These materials exhibit hydrodynamic size that is responsive to pH, due in part to the helix-coil transition in the peptide chain, but also due to changes in curvature of the assembly at the interface. This talk will present some recent studies in solution morphology transitions that occur in these materials as a result of the helix-coil transition and associated charge-charge interactions. We exploit the responsiveness of these materials to encapsulate and release therapeutics such as doxorubicin and demonstrate the potential to achieve triggered release as a function of pH due to morphology transitions. 

Self-assembly and responsiveness in polypeptide-based star and triblock copolymers: From design to function

247th National Meeting (2014)

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