Glucose-Responsive Disassembly of Polymersomes of Sequence-Specific Boroxole-Containing Block Copolymers under Physiologically Relevant Conditions

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• 作者：Hyunkyu Kim ; Young Ji Kang ; Eun Sun Jeong ; Sebyung Kang ; Kyoung Taek Kim
• 刊名：ACS Macro Letters
• 出版年：2012
• 出版时间：October 16, 2012
• 年：2012
• 卷：1
• 期：10
• 页码：1194-1198
• 全文大小：279K
• 年卷期：v.1,no.10(October 16, 2012)
• ISSN：2161-1653

文摘

Polymers containing organoboronic acids have recently gained interest as sugar-responsive materials owing to the reversible binding of saccharides to boronic acids, which triggers a change in the physical and chemical properties of these polymers, such as their water solubility. In particular, the ability of these polymers to bind glucose has attracted considerable attention because of the promise of these materials for the development of sensors and drug delivery systems for glucose-related human diseases, such as diabetes. We report here a new class of sugar-responsive polymers that are based on a sequence-specific copolymer of styreneboroxole and N-functionalized maleimide. The reversible addition鈥揻ragmentation and chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of this pair of monomers ensured that a glucose receptor alternates with a nonresponsive solubilizing group throughout the sugar-responsive polymer chain. Due to the presence of hydrophilic solubilizing groups beween the solubility-switching boroxole moieties in the membrane-forming block, the polymersomes of the block copolymers responded to a lower level of glucose in the medium, resulting in diassembly of the bilayer membrane under a physiologically relevant pH and glucose level.