Polymer Vesicles Formed by Mixing of Amphiphilic Polymer and Hydrophobic Cholesterol-containing Homopolymer in Water

抄録

Amphiphilic α-cholesteryl poly(ethylene glycol) (CS-050) consists of hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) with a hydrophobic cholesteryl group at the polymer chain end. Hydrophobic poly(cholesteryl 6-methacryloyloxyhexanoate) (PChM) was prepared via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer radical polymerization. A mixture of PChM and CS-050 in organic solution was dialyzed against pure water to exchange the solvent. These polymers formed vesicles in pure water, which were characterized using dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The light scattering intensity for the vesicle solution was increased upon increasing the [PChM]/[CS-050] weight ratio. However the diameter of the vesicles remained constant, independent of the [PChM]/[CS-050] weight ratio. The thickness of the vesicles increased with increasing amounts of the cholesteryl group content in the vesicle.