Polyarginine segments in block copolypeptides drive both vesicular assembly and intracellular delivery

Polymeric vesicles are a relatively new class of nanoscale self-assembled materials that show great promise as robust encapsulants. Compared with liposomes, use of polymeric building blocks for membrane formation allows increased stability, stimuli responsiveness and chemical diversity, which may prove advantageous for drug-delivery applications(1). A major drawback of most polymeric vesicles is the lack of biofunctionality, which restricts their ability to interact with cells and tissues. We have prepared vesicles composed of polyarginine and polyleucine segments that are stable in media, can entrap water soluble species, and can be processed to different sizes and prepared in large quantities. The remarkable feature of these materials is that the polyarginine segments both direct structure for vesicle formation and provide functionality for efficient intracellular delivery of the vesicles. This unique synergy between nanoscale self-assembly and inherent peptide functionality provides a new approach for design of multifunctional materials for drug delivery.