Abstract
New amphiphilic graft copolymers with hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide-co-allyl glycidyl ether) (PEAG) as the backbone and hydrophobic poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) as the side chains (PEAG-g-PCL) were designed and synthesized. For this purpose, the combined techniques of anionic copolymerization, radical mediated thiol–ene reaction and ring-opening polymerization were employed. The properties of the graft copolymer were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, GPC and MALDI-TOF-MS. The self-assembly of the copolymers in aqueous solution was examined by fluorescence spectroscopy, DLS and TEM. The results showed that with a relatively low critical aggregation concentration (CAC), the graft copolymers could form different morphologies including vesicles (polymersomes). The formed polymersomes had the capacity to encapsulate protein molecules (like hemoglobin, Hb) through a modified lyophilization–rehydration method as analyzed via TEM and SDS-PAGE. Furthermore the gas-binding capacity of the encapsulated Hb was assayed via UV-vis spectroscopy. The characteristic absorption peak of the encapsulated Hb in different gas-binding states (CO, O2, N2) showed no significant change by comparison with that of free Hb. These Hb encapsulated PEAG-g-PCL polymersomes could have the potential to be applied as an artificial oxygen carrier for transfusion.
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