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Anionic Polymerization of an Amphiphilic Copolymer for Preparation of Block Copolymer Micelles Stabilized by π-π Stacking Interactions
Published on: October 10, 2016
A tadpole-shaped gene carrier with distinct phase segregation in a ternary polymeric micelle
Qixian Chen1, Kensuke Osada, Matthew Pennisi
1Department of Materials Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. kataoka@bmw.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Abstract:
A distinct tadpole-shaped nanostructure characterized by a spherical head and an extended shaft was identified in a single plasmid DNA (pDNA)-based polymeric micelle. The tadpole-shaped structure was constructed by adding anionic chondroitin sulfate (CS) to the rod-shaped polyplex micelle containing a single pDNA molecule packaged by the PEG-polycation block copolymer through their electrostatic self-assembly. The complex consequently developed a novel structure composed of segregated domains of the CS-rich inflated head and CS-poor folded DNA tail. Hence, this tadpole structure can be regarded as evidence that distinct phase segregation occurred in a single polymeric micelle containing pDNA.
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