Issue 17, 2015

Temperature-sensitive polypeptide nanogels for intracellular delivery of a biomacromolecular drug

Abstract

Temperature sensitive nanogels prepared from ionic complexes of positively charged poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(L-lysine)-poly(L-alanine) (PEG-PK-PA) and negatively charged hyaluronic acid (HA) were investigated as intracellular delivery vehicles of a biomacromolecular drug of fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugated bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA). By varying the weight ratio of the polymer to hyaluronic acid from 100/0 to 19/81, the zeta potential of the nanogel could be controlled from +47 mV (100/0), 0 mV (67/33), and −47 mV (35/65). In particular, the nanogels prepared from 67/33 exhibited 0 mV, and the size was reversibly changed from 220 nm at 20 °C to 160 nm at 37 °C with a narrow size distribution. The internalization of the FITC-BSA loaded nanogel was significantly affected by the zeta potential. In particular, the nanogel with zero zeta potential was very effective in internalizing the model drug. The cells treated with chlorpromazine significantly reduced the internalization efficiency, suggesting that clathrin mediated endocytosis is the main mechanism of the internalization of the nanogel. Cytotoxicity measured by the MTT assay suggested that the PEG-PK-PA/HA ionic complex nanogel is significantly less cytotoxic than PEG-PK-PA itself. This paper suggests that (1) the PEG-PK-PA/HA nanogel could be tightened by heat-induced shrinkage, (2) the internalization efficiency of the nanocarrier could be controlled by modulating the size and zeta potential of the nanogel, and (3) cytotoxicity of the positively charged nanogel was significantly improved by the formation of the ionic complex with negatively charged hyaluronic acid.

Graphical abstract: Temperature-sensitive polypeptide nanogels for intracellular delivery of a biomacromolecular drug

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Feb 2015
Accepted
18 Mar 2015
First published
18 Mar 2015

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2015,3, 3525-3530

Temperature-sensitive polypeptide nanogels for intracellular delivery of a biomacromolecular drug

D. Y. Ko, H. J. Moon and B. Jeong, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2015, 3, 3525 DOI: 10.1039/C5TB00366K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements