Synthesis of temperature-dependent elastin-like peptide-modified dendrimer for drug delivery

Dendrimers are synthetic macromolecules with a unique structure that are potential unimolecular drug carriers and potential scaffolds for peptides. Elastin is one of the main components of the extracellular matrix, as well as a temperature-sensitive biomacromolecule. Val-Pro-Gly-Val-Gly repeats, an elastin-like peptide, have been used for designing artificial elastin molecules. In this study, we have synthesized a novel type of temperature-dependent drug carrier by conjugating Ac-Val-Pro-Gly-Val-Gly to a dendrimer, named elastin-mimetic dendrimer. The elastin-mimetic dendrimer formed β-turn structure by heating. The elastin-mimetic dendrimer exhibited the inverse phase transition, depending on pH and NaCl concentration in addition to temperature. The elastin-mimetic dendrimer could encapsulate a model drug, rose bengal, even though the complex stability was similar to the dendrimer without elastin-like peptide. Therefore, the elastin-mimetic dendrimer is a potential drug carrier with temperature- and pH-dependent properties.