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Somszor K, Allison-Logan S, Karimi F, McKenzie T, Fu Q, O'Connor A, Qiao G, Heath D. Amphiphilic Core Cross-Linked Star Polymers for the Delivery of Hydrophilic Drugs from Hydrophobic Matrices. Biomacromolecules 2021; 22:2554-2562. [PMID: 33983713 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.1c00296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The delivery of hydrophilic drugs from hydrophobic polymers is a long-standing challenge in the biomaterials field due to the limited solubility of the therapeutic agent within the polymer matrix. In this work, we develop a drug delivery mechanism that enables the impregnation and subsequent elution of hydrophilic drugs from a hydrophobic polymer material. This was achieved by synthesizing core cross-linked star polymer amphiphiles with hydrophilic cores and hydrophobic coronas. While significant work has been done to create nanocarriers for hydrophilic drugs, this work is distinct from previous work in that it designs amphiphilic and core cross-linked particles for controlled release from hydrophobic matrices. Ultraviolet-mediated atom transfer radical polymerization was used to synthesize the poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based hydrophilic cores of the star polymers, and hydrophobic coronas of poly(caprolactone) (PCL) were then built onto the stars using ring-opening polymerization. We illustrated the cytocompatibility of PCL loaded with these star polymers through human endothelial cell adhesion and proliferation for up to 7 days, with star loadings of up to 40 wt %. We demonstrated successful loading of the hydrophilic drug heparin into the star polymer core, achieving a loading efficiency and content of 50 and 5%, respectively. Finally, the heparin-loaded star polymers were incorporated into a PCL matrix and sustained release of heparin was illustrated for over 40 days. These results support the use of core cross-linked star polymer amphiphiles for the delivery of hydrophilic drugs from hydrophobic polymer matrices. These materials were developed for application as drug-eluting and biodegradable coronary artery stents, but this flexible drug delivery platform could have impact in a broad range of medical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Somszor
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010 VIC, Australia
| | - Stephanie Allison-Logan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010 VIC, Australia.,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010 VIC, Australia
| | - Fatemeh Karimi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010 VIC, Australia.,Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Thomas McKenzie
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010 VIC, Australia
| | - Qiang Fu
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010 VIC, Australia.,Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater (CTWW), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Andrea O'Connor
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010 VIC, Australia
| | - Greg Qiao
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010 VIC, Australia
| | - Daniel Heath
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010 VIC, Australia
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