Preparation of polymeric self-assembly and its application to biomaterials

The self-assembly of polymers can lead to supramolecular systems and is related to the their functions of material and life sciences. In this article, self-assembly of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films, polymer micelles, and polymeric nanoparticles, and their biomedical applications are described. LB surfaces with a well-ordered and layered structure adhered more cells including platelet, hepatocyte, and fibroblast than the cast surfaces with microphase-separated domains. Extensive morphologic changes were observed in LB surface-adhered cells compared to the cast films. Amphiphilic block copolymers, consisting of poly(gamma-benzyl L-glutamate) (PBLG) as the hydrophobic part and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) [or poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm)] as the hydrophilic one, can self-assemble in water to form nanoparticles presumed to be composed of the hydrophilic shell and hydrophobic core. The release characteristics of hydrophobic drugs from these polymeric nanoparticles were dependent on the drug loading contents and chain length of the hydrophobic part of the copolymers. Achiral hydrophobic merocyanine dyes (MDs) were self-assembled in copolymeric nanoparticles, which provided a chiral microenvironment as red-shifted aggregates, and the circular dichroism (CD) of MD was induced in the self-assembled copolymeric nanoparticles.