Pyrene-Terminated, Amphiphilic Polypeptide and Its Hydrogen-Bonded Interpolymer Complex as Delivery Systems of Doxorubicin

Chun-Yi Tsai; Chin-Hsiang Chung; Jin-Long Hong

doi:10.1021/acsomega.8b00124

Pyrene-Terminated, Amphiphilic Polypeptide and Its Hydrogen-Bonded Interpolymer Complex as Delivery Systems of Doxorubicin

ACS Omega. 2018 Apr 24;3(4):4423-4432. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.8b00124. eCollection 2018 Apr 30.

Authors

Chun-Yi Tsai¹, Chin-Hsiang Chung², Jin-Long Hong²

Affiliations

¹ Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, No. 1, Taisu Industrial Park, Mailiao Township, Yunlin County 63801, Taiwan.
² Department of Materials and Optoelectronic Science, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan.

Abstract

The intensity ratio between the first (373 nm) and the third (383 nm) vibronic peaks [I ₁/I ₃, as the pyrene (Py) scale] of fluorescent Py was used to monitor the critical concentration, drug-loading, and -releasing behaviors of a Py-terminated, amphiphilic polypeptide PPM and its hydrogen-bonded interpolymer complex (HIPC) with poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). Primarily, an amphiphilic PPM with a hydrophobic Py terminal and hydrophilic methoxy-bis(ethylene oxide) pendant groups was synthesized through multiple preparative steps, and the resultant PPM was thoroughly mixed with PAA through a preferable hydrogen bond (H bond) interaction to form HIPC. The emission study suggested that the I ₁/I ₃ ratio and the quantum yield (Φ_F) are effective in determining the critical concentrations of the aqueous PPM and PPM/PAA solutions. Moreover, the I ₁/I ₃ ratio and Φ_F were found to be convenient measures for determining the amounts of doxorubicin drugs loaded by and released from the aqueous PPM and PPM/PAA solutions.