Trilayered polymeric micelle: a newly developed macromolecular assembly that can incorporate hydrophilic compounds.

We developed a newly developed macromolecular assembly, a trilayered polymeric micelle, which can encapsulate hydrophilic compounds. The optimal condition for preparing a stable w/o emulsion was determined by the evaluation of several factors such as the composition of phase-forming organic solvents and the concentration of an emulsion stabilizer. Then, the trilayered polymeric micelle was prepared under the optimal condition for preparing the stable w/o emulsion. The results of DLS, GPC, (1)H NMR, and fluorescence microscopy suggested that the trilayered polymeric micelle was successfully prepared. It was also clarified that the micelle can encapsulate the model hydrophilic compound, FITC-dextran, into the core of the micelle. The micelle can be expected to incorporate/release compounds effectively by means of the possible optimization of the entanglement of PLA segments forming the shell layer of the micelle. These features strongly suggest that the micelle can have a variety of future applications, especially in medical fields. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.