Development of Multifunctional Polypeptide Amphiphiles as Drug Delivery Vehicles

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)This award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to University of California Los Angeles is to develop and study multifunctional amphiphilic block copolypeptides that can be assembled into vesicle and emulsion vehicles containing functionality for intracellular drug delivery. The proposed copolypeptide design, synthesis, development and testing, as well as the functionality and versatility inherent in these polypeptides will be used to create multifunctional vehicles with properties suitable for drug delivery applications. The key challenge of this proposal is to design and prepare polypeptide amphiphiles with added functions without adversely affecting other functions or physical features, to obtain true multifunctional vesicle and emulsion carriers. The knowledge gained from these studies will allow fine tuning of carrier properties for downstream specific uses in encapsulation and delivery of drugs. Students trained under this program will be valuable in the industrial job force (both pharmaceutical and materials science areas) since they will learn fundamentals of polymer synthesis using catalysis and self-assembly, cell culture and intracellular trafficking of drug carriers, as well as more applied areas of materials characterization and property evaluation. The PIs will also continue their academic activities in developing curricula and teaching in bioengineering for both graduates and undergraduates, and involve concepts and laboratory methods.The proposed design, synthesis, development and testing of copolypeptides are expected to produce vesicles with enhanced and multifunctional properties for drug delivery systems. These vesicles are expected to have adequate size, shape, good cell uptake and stability, and cargo loading capacity for drug delivery. The design and synthesis of improved drug delivery vehicles expected from these studies are of broad importance for the pharmaceutical industry, and for human health in general. The academic impact of the proposal is in developing curricula and teaching tools for graduate and undergraduate students.