Direct Aqueous Self-Assembly of an Amphiphilic Diblock Copolymer toward Multistimuli-Responsive Fluorescent Anisotropic Micelles

ACS Nano. 2015;9(4):4649-59. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5b01370. Epub 2015 Apr 13.

Abstract

It is extremely important for emerging applications and still enormously challenging to develop multifunctional stimuli-responsive anisotropic polymeric micelles with integration of potentially targeted therapeutic and diagnostic function. Herein, we report a first example of fluorescent anisotropic micelles (FAMs) with Fe(3+), DTT, H2O2, and thermal responsive fluorescence and morphology. FAMs from direct aqueous self-assembly of amphiphilic diblock copolymer showed reversible "switch off/on" of aqua fluorescent emission and controllable structural change by sequential addition of Fe(3+) and DTT. In addition, the FAMs had reversible dual-thermal responsiveness of fluorescence and morphology. This micelle could serve as a promising candidate for all-in-one application of quantitative detecting, imaging, drug delivery, and targeted release.

Keywords: block copolymers; fluorescent; micelles; self-assembly; shape anisotropy; stimuli-responsive.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Dioxanes / chemistry*
  • Dithiothreitol / chemistry
  • Drug Carriers / chemistry*
  • Fluorescence Polarization
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions*
  • Iron / chemistry
  • Micelles*
  • Polyethylene Glycols / chemistry*
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Temperature
  • Water / chemistry*

Substances

  • Dioxanes
  • Drug Carriers
  • Micelles
  • Polymers
  • Water
  • poly-4-dioxan-2-one
  • Polyethylene Glycols
  • Iron
  • Dithiothreitol