This award by the Biomaterials Program in the Division of Materials Research to Williams College is to develop a novel drug delivery system using polymer based micelles. Micelles, comprised of amphiphilic block copolymers, have hydrophobic cores suitable for sequestering hydrophobic therapeutics. Importantly, these polymer shells increase a drug's solubility, retention time, and provide opportunities for targeting its delivery - all means of improving a drug's efficacy. This project seeks to improve the micelle stability and targeting ability by using three key synthetic strategies: incorporation of chiral aminoacid side chains for stability and tunable hydrophobicity, decoration of the shell with sugar moieties for targeting carbohydrate receptors, and introduction of radical scavengers to suppress anti-inflammatory responses. In addition to delivering small molecule therapeutics, these polymers scaffolds will be used to develop enzymatic delivery strategies. The polymer synthesis and biological evaluation will be carried out with undergraduate students at Williams College. Ranging from first-year to senior thesis students, these promising researchers will engage not only in the laboratory and analytical aspects of the project, but also the oral and written dissemination of the research. Planned polymer-related workshops at local elementary schools will inspire and encourage a younger generation as well.
This award is to develop polymeric scaffolds as drug delivery vehicles. Non-covalent assemblies of amphiphilic block copolymers are synthesized with aminoacid monomers, imparting chirality and pH- and thermo-responsiveness, with the aim of increasing stability and encapsulation efficiency. Incorporation of simple carbohydrates and antioxidant molecules improve the scaffold's targeting ability and moderate the inflammatory response of diseased cells. Covalent assemblies of these functional polymers with therapeutic enzymes offer an alternative drug delivery strategy. Undergraduate students, from first-year to senior thesis students, will be involved in all aspects of the project - from synthesis to characterization to biological evaluation. They will learn such techniques as air-free controlled radical polymerization, characterization of polymer size and shape, and protein characterization, as well as in-vitro experiments of cell viability and targeting. Students will play a major role in the oral and written dissemination of the project's results.
