Preparation and characterization of cationic chitosan-modified poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) copolymer nanospheres as DNA carriers.

Chitosan (CS)-modified poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA/CS) nanoparticles with cationic surface were prepared by means of emulsion-solvent evaporation technique using polyviny alcohol and chitosan as costabilizers. The preparation conditions of the cationic nanoparticles were optimized by orthogonal factorial design, and the influences of the experiment variables such as polymer concentration, the molecular weight of chitosan, etc., on the size and zeta potential of the nanoparticles were evaluated. It was shown that the diameter of the PLGA/CS nanoparticles can be controlled in the range of 150-200 nm as determined by dynamic light scattering with the optimized conditions. The zeta potential of PLGA/CS nanoparticles increased with increasing the concentration of CS (C(CS)) or decreasing the pH, it was up to 55 mV when C(CS) was 3 mg/mL at pH 4 and inversed around pH 8. The optimization conditions for fabricating the relatively small diameter and high zeta potential cationic nanoparticles were C(CS) 3 mg/mL, C(PLGA) 10 mg/mL, and the volume ratio of organic solution to aqueous medium 1/4. X-ray photo electron spectroscopy and fluorescence inverted microscope observations approved that CS molecules were adsorbed on the surface of PLGA nanoparticles, DNA-condensing ability of the PLGA/CS nanoparticles and cell transfection efficiency of the nanoparticle-DNA complexes were estimated by gel electrophoresis and transfection experiment to 293FT cell, respectively.

Novel polymer micelles prepared from chitosan grafted hydrophobic palmitoyl groups for drug delivery.

Chitosan-based polymer micelles have a splendid outlook for drug delivery owing to the interesting properties, abundance, and low cost of chitosan. A new method of preparation of water-soluble N-palmitoyl chitosan (PLCS) which can form micelles in water is developed in this paper. The preparation of PLCS was carried out by swollen chitosan coupling with palmitic anhydride in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The degree of substitution (DS) of PLCS was in the range of 1.2-14.2%, and the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of PLCS micelles was in the range of 2.0 x 10(-3) to 37.2 x 10(-3) mg/mL. The properties of PLCS micelles such as encapsulation capacity and controlled release ability of hydrophobic model drug ibuprofen (IBU) were evaluated. Experimental results indicated that the loading capacity (LC) of PLCS was approximately 10%. The drug release strongly depended on pH and temperature: low pH and high temperature accelerated drug release markedly. Moreover, the IR, 1H NMR, and TEM of PLCS, IBU-loaded PLCS, and a PLCS-IBU physical mixture have been measured to show that IBU is loaded by PLCS micelles.

PLGA-(L-Asp-alt-diol)(x)-PLGAs with different contents of pendant amino groups: synthesis and characterization.

A series of novel biodegradable multi-block copolymers PLGA-(L-Asp-alt-diol)(x)-PLGA with pendant amino groups was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of D,L-lactide/glycolide(D,L-LA/GA) (75/25) using poly(N-Cbz-L-Asp-alt-diol)s as macroinitiator and stannous octoate as catalyst, in which the N-Cbz-L-Asp represents N-carbobenzyloxy-L-aspartic acid and diols are ethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, PEG200, and PEG600, respectively. Their structures and properties were characterized by FTIR, (1)H NMR, DSC, GPC, and elemental analysis (EA). The contents of the L-Asp unit in the copolymers were increased from 12.9 to 79.3 mmol.g(-1) with decreasing the chain length of the diol, while the glass transition temperatures of the copolymers were decreased from 27.1 to 11.7 degrees C with increasing the chain length of the diol. Thus, the results in this study provide a way to prepare biomaterials with different L-Asp unit densities or different number of bioactive sites as well as different properties through adjusting the chain length of the diol. Synthesis of PLGA-(N-Cbz-L-Asp-alt-diol)(x)-PLGA copolymers.

[Preparation and degradation of poly(DL-lactide)/calcium phosphates porous scaffolds].

The porous foams were prepared by the solvent-casting and particulate-leaching technique using poly(DL-lactide) (PDLLA), poly(DL-lactide)/hydroxyapatite (PDLLA/20wt%HA), and poly(DL-lactide)/beta-tricalcium phosphate(PDLLA/20wt% beta-TCP) respectively. Observations by scanning electron microscopy indicated that the HA and beta-TCP were homogeneously dispersed in the polymer matrix, and the pores of the foams are interconnected, resulting in continuous pore structures. The porosity of PDLLA/HA and PDLLA/beta-TCP foams was lower than that of the pure PDLLA foams, but the compression strength was higher than that of the pure PDLLA foams. The results of the degradation in vitro showed that both HA and beta-TCP had significant inhibitory effects on the degradation of PDLLA, especially the HA. It is expected that the composite foams are of use as scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.