Mthulisi Khuphe
University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Title: Biodegradable Drug Delivery Vehicles from NCA and OCA Ring Opening Polymerisation
Biography
Biography: Mthulisi Khuphe
Abstract
Polymers are often employed as drug carriers to provide protection to encapsulated therapeutic molecules against premature metabolism and clearance in vivo [1]. Proteolytic enzymes may be exploited to trigger the swelling and/or degradation of (poly)peptide-containing carrier vehicles, while reduced environmental pH may be exploited to trigger the hydrolysis of ester linkages in (poly)ester-containing carrier vehicles, resulting in controlled payload release, on-demand [2,3]. We report the creation of several biodegradable polymeric nanomaterials from N-carboxyanhydride ring-opening polymerisation (NCA ROP) and O-carboxyanhydride ring-opening polymerisation (OCA ROP). A range of delivery vehicles, including (nano)particles, chemical hydrogels and vegetable oil-based organogels have been created that selectively release encapsulated payload molecules upon interaction with acidic environmental pH and/or enzymes that are over-expressed at particular disease sites