The therapeutic efficacy of gemcitabine is severely compromised due to its rapid plasma metabolism. Moreover, its hydrophilicity poses a challenge for its efficient entrapment in nanosized delivery systems and to provide a sustained release profile. In this study, gemcitabine was covalently conjugated to poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(2-methyl-2-carboxyl-propylene carbonate) (PEG-PCC) which c...

We investigated the structural features of micelles formed by the self-association of the pentablock copolymer poly[ N,N -(diethyl amino)ethyl methacrylate]-block-poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(propylene oxide)-block-poly(ethyleneoxide)-block-poly[ N,N -(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PDEAEM-PEO-PPO-PEO-PDEAEM) in aqueous solutions by using small-angle neutron scattering SANS. The pentabloc...

We examine the mechanism of formation of micelles of dihydroxy bile salts using a coarse-grained, implicit solvent model and Langevin dynamics simulations. We find that bile salt micelles primarily form via addition and removal of monomers, similarly to surfactants with typical head-tail molecular structures, and not via a two-stage mechanism - involving formation of oligomers and their subsequ...

The effect of compressed CO2 on the properties of protein (trypsin) in the reverse micelles of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate AOT/decane/water has been studied. UV-vis spectrum was used to determine the precipitation of trypsin in the reverse micelles, which reveals that trypsin can be precipitated from the reverse micelles by compressed CO2 at suitable pressures, while the surfactant A...

Here we describe a method for preparing fatty acid micelles. The method for adding micelles to a buffered solution containing fatty acid or phospholipid vesicles is also discussed.

The combination of chemotherapy drugs attracts more attention in clinical cancer trials. However, the poor water solubility of chemotherapeutic drugs restricts their anticancer application. In order to improve antitumor efficiency and reduce side effects of free drugs, we prepared paclitaxel (PTX) and honokiol (HK) combination methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(caprolactone) micelles (P-H/M) by...

Micelles have been successfully used for the delivery of anticancer drugs. Amphiphilic polymers form core-shell structured micelles in an aqueous environment through self-assembly. The hydrophobic core of micelles functions as a drug reservoir and encapsulates hydrophobic drugs. The hydrophilic shell prevents the aggregation of micelles and also prolongs their systemic circulation in vivo. In t...

We have studied the self-assembly of a polybutadiene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer in methanol, in cyclohexane, and in the partially miscible binary mixture of methanol + cyclohexane. Molecular probe experiments indicated that PB(89)-b-PEO(132) (subscripts indicate the number of monomers in each block) forms micelles with PEO cores and PB coronas in pure cyclohexane and micelles with...

BACKGROUND A critical disadvantage for successful chemotherapy with paclitaxel (PTX) is its nontargeting nature to cancer cells. Folic acid has been employed as a targeting ligand of various anticancer agents to increase their cellular uptake within target cells since the folate receptor is overexpressed on the surface of such tumor cells. In this study, a novel biodegradable deoxycholic acid-O...

Although the importance of mixed micelles in the solubilization and biliary excretion of lipids is established, little is known about a possible role of mixed micelles in the excretion of other biliary solutes. Ultrafiltration and ultracentrifugation techniques were used to investigate the interaction between substances that are excreted in bile and biliary mixed micelles. Substances (urea, ery...