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Updated: Mar 8, 2026

Quantitative and Temporal Control of Oxygen Microenvironment at the Single Islet Level
Published on: November 17, 2013
Hypoxia and H2O2 Dual-Sensitive Vesicles for Enhanced Glucose-Responsive Insulin Delivery
Jicheng Yu1,2, Chenggen Qian1,3, Yuqi Zhang1,2
1Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.
Abstract:
A glucose-responsive closed-loop insulin delivery system mimicking pancreas activity without long-term side effect has the potential to improve diabetic patients' health and quality of life. Here, we developed a novel glucose-responsive insulin delivery device using a painless microneedle-array patch containing insulin-loaded vesicles. Formed by self-assembly of hypoxia and H2O2 dual-sensitive diblock copolymer, the glucose-responsive polymersome-based vesicles (d-GRPs) can disassociate and subsequently release insulin triggered by H2O2 and hypoxia generated during glucose oxidation catalyzed by glucose specific enzyme. Moreover, the d-GRPs were able to eliminate the excess H2O2, which may lead to free radical-induced damage to skin tissue during the long-term usage and reduce the activity of GOx. In vivo experiments indicated that this smart insulin patch could efficiently regulate the blood glucose in the chemically induced type 1 diabetic mice for 10 h.
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