Home
Resources
Publications
Microspheres Made of Poly(epsilon-Caprolactone)-Based Amphiphilic Copolymers: Potential in Sustained Delivery of Proteins

Microspheres Made of Poly(epsilon-Caprolactone)-Based Amphiphilic Copolymers: Potential in Sustained Delivery of Proteins

Fabiana Quaglia, Luisanna Ostacolo, Giuseppe Nese, Giuseppe De Rosa, Maria Immacolata La Rotonda, Rosario Palumbo, Giovanni Maglio

Macromol Biosci. 2005 Oct 20;5(10):945-54.

PMID: 16208680

Abstract:

Microspheres of amphiphilic multi-block poly(ester-ether)s (PEE)s and poly(ester-ether-amide)s (PEEA)s based on poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) were investigated as delivery systems for proteins. The interest was mainly focused on the effect of their molecular structure and composition on the overall properties of the microspheres, encapsulating bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model protein. PEEs and PEEAs were prepared using a alpha,omega-dihydroxy-terminated PCL macromer (Mn= 2.0 kDa) as a hydrophobic component. Hydrophilic oxyethylene sequences were generated using poly(ethylene oxide)s (PEO)s of different molecular mass (Mn= 300-600 Da) in the case of PEEs, or 4,7,10-trioxa-1,13-tridecanediamine (Trioxy) and PEO150 (Mn= 150 Da) in the case of PEEAs. The copolymers showed a decrease of Tm and crystallinity values as compared with PCL. Within each class of copolymers, the bulk hydrophilicity increased with increasing the number of oxyethylene groups in the chain repeat unit. PEEAs were more hydrophilic than PEEs with a similar number of oxyethylene groups. Discrete spherical particles were prepared by both PEEs and PEEAs and their BSA encapsulation efficiency related to copolymer properties. Interestingly, the insertion of short hydrophilic segments is enough to significantly affect protein distribution inside microspheres and its release profiles, as compared to PCL microspheres. Different degradation rates and mechanisms were observed for copolymer microspheres, mainly depending on the distribution of oxyethylene units along the chain. The results highlight that a fine control over the structural parameters of amphiphilic PCL-based multi-block copolymers is a key factor for their application in the field of protein delivery.

Chemicals Related in the Paper:

Catalog Number	Product Name	Structure	CAS Number	Price
AP68951939	Poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-diphenylsiloxane), dihydroxy terminated		68951-93-9	Price

As a specialist in analytical chemical Products, Alfa Chemistry offers consumers a wealth of raw materials and a full range of technologies and services.

QUICK LINKS

HEADQUARTERS

Tel:

Fax:

Email: