Vesicles made from synthetic amphiphilic ABA triblock copolymers are promising for biomedical applications due to their stability, customizable size, and potential for stimuli-responsive properties. Among stimuli-responsive polymeric vesicles (polymersomes), those self-assembled at room temperature and pH/thermoresponsiveness in biologically relevant temperature and pH conditions are particularly well suited for applications in therapeutic delivery. We report on novel non-toxic amphiphilic triblock copolymer polymersomes with pH-triggered release and temperature-controlled permeability at the physiologically relevant temperatures. Our poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)10-poly(dimethylsiloxane)65-poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)10 (PVCL10-PDMS65-PVCL10) copolymer was able to assemble into a stable vesicle structure at room temperature and is capable of encapsulating the therapeutic model drug doxorubicin. The polymersome diameter was shown to decrease from 480 to 110 nm within 5 hours of hydrolysis at pH 4, which occurred in parallel to fast drug release as compared to non-stimuli responsive polymersomes. The biocompatibility of the polymersomes was evaluated via in vivo studies including necropsy analysis, histological imaging, and hematological analysis. The in vivo studies showed strong agreement in terms of biocompatibility which supports the potential use of our system for prolonged therapeutic delivery. Considering their biocompatible nature and high loading capacity, these polymer vesicles have considerable potential as novel stimuli-responsive drug nanocarriers.

pH-dependent release of anticancer drug doxorubicin from biocompatible thermoresponsive polymersomes

255th National Meeting (2018)

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