| Description |
Nanomedicines gain much more relevance in biomedical applications if they are tailored to be degradable in response to certain external stimuli. Such stimulus may be enzymatic removal of protecting groups, a pH change, light or the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cancer. Herein, imbalances on the cells micro-environment (pH changes, ROS production) will be explored for the synthesis of stimuli-responsive polymers and block copolymers. Inspired by the ease and effectiveness of the self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers in solution, several polymer nanomedicines, i.e., micelles, nanoparticles and vesicles will be designed to display tunable stimuli degradation in the presence of physiologically relevant changes in pH, temperature or ROS concentrations and will be prepared by microfluidic nanoprecipitation. This technique allows us the production of uniform particles with controllable size, shape and surface chemistry in a reproducible manner. The produced polymer self-assemblies will be characterized using standard scattering techniques (DSL/SLS/ELS, SAXS and SANS) and by microscopy. The effectiveness of the polymer nanosystems will be evaluated in in vitro and in in vivo models simulating the physiological balanced and imbalanced of the microenvironment. |
