Encapsulation of cationic peptides into polymersomes through in situ gelatinization

Encapsulation of peptides and proteins remains an obstacle in drug nanoformulations. Here, we established an alternative method to encapsulate peptides and proteins into polymersomes (POs). NC-1900, a type of cationic peptide that can induce the gelatinization of deacetylated gellan gum (DGG), was selected as a model peptide. DGG was first trapped in POs to serve as a reservoir to capture NC-1900. Analysis of the optimized formulation revealed that the drug-loading capability of NC-1900-loaded POs was 1.20%, and the encapsulation efficiency was 30%. The release of NC-1900 from the gel was the rate-limiting step and could be expressed by Fick's law of diffusion. These results indicated that the preparation of POs encapsulated with gelatin could be employed as an effective loading method for ionic peptides and proteins.