Polyion complex micelles as smart nano-sized drug carriers for proteins

针对疾病的新疗法通常是基于蛋白质的，蛋白质不稳定，不能水解，有时很难通过细胞膜传递。该项目的目标是创造一种能够有效包裹蛋白质的智能药物载体。将合成一系列嵌段共聚物，它们能够缩合带正电荷的蛋白质，从而形成多离子络合物胶束。这种聚合物结构将进行微调，以创建一种药物载体，一旦进入哺乳动物细胞，就能有效地释放蛋白质。其结果将是加强对聚合物结构和蛋白质活性之间关系的理解，并最终设计出先进和智能的药物载体。

Novel treatments against diseases are often based on proteins, which are unstable against hydrolysis and sometimes difficult to deliver across the cell membrane. The aim of the project is to create a smart drug carrier that can encapsulate proteins efficiently. A range of block copolymers will be synthesised that are able to condense a positively charged protein resulting in the formation of polyion complex micelles. The polymer structure will be fine-tuned to create a drug carrier that releases the protein efficiently once inside mammalian cells. The outcome will be the enhanced understanding of the relationship between polymer structure and the activity of the protein and ultimately the design of an advanced and smart drug carrier.