One pot, single phase synthesis of thermo-sensitive nano-carriers by photo-crosslinking of a diacrylated pluronic

A simple, single phase synthesis method for the preparation of thermo-sensitive pluronic-based nano-carriers was developed. Pluronic-based nano-carriers that exhibit a sharp volume transition over a temperature range of 4-40 degrees C were prepared by aqueous phase photo-crosslinking of diacrylated pluronic F 127 (DA-PF 127) without using an organic dispersion phase. They showed hydrodynamic diameter variation (460 +/- 37 nm at 4 degrees C, 55 +/- 5 nm at 40 degrees C) while maintaining their structural stability. Target agents were efficiently loaded (>90%) by simple incubation with the nano-carriers at 4 degrees C. FITC-BSA loaded fluorescence imaging, gold nano-particle loaded TEM imaging, and the high loading capacity (over 200%) of the pluronic-based nano-carriers indicated a reservoir characteristic of the system. The release pattern of the loaded protein could be controlled repeatedly and reversibly by temperature change due to the thermo-sensitive properties of the nano-carriers.