Characterization of Amphiphilic Elastin-like Polypeptide (ELP) Block Copolymers as Drug Delivery Carriers

초록

Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are stimulusresponsive protein-based biopolymers that exhibit phase transition behavior. Some ELP block copolymers can assemble spherical nanoparticles with thermo-sensitivity. For this reason, thermo-responsive nanoparticles derived from ELP block copolymers have been utilized in the biomedical field. In this study, four different ELP block copolymers constituted three diblocks and one triblock were synthesized. Physical properties of these self-assembled micelles were then investigated according to their block lengths and distributions. In addition, drug capturing capacities of these micelles and aggregates were explored by changing solution temperature.

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