The preparation of thermoresponsive poly(N-vinylcaprolactama) (PNVCL) and poly(e-caprolactone) (pCL)-based nanofibers by electrospinnng for controlled drug delivery systems

Abstract

The Scientific Initiation research project carried out by Graziele Aparecida de Jesus Aguiar, undergraduate student in the Polymer Laboratory of the EEL/USP, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Simone de Fatima Medeiros and Prof. Dr. Amilton Martins dos Santos, aims the use of biocompatible and thermoresponsive block copolymers in developing systems for controlled drug delivery. The first step of the project involved the synthesis of block copolymers based on poly(µ-caprolactone)-b-poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PCL-b-PNVCL). Then, they have been used in formulations of PCL-b-PNVCL nanoparticles via emulsion-solvent diffusion method, and in the encapsulation of a hydrophobic drug, generically known as ketoprofen. The results obtained up to now have been very satisfactory and showed the effectiveness of copolymers in controlling the kinetics of in vitro drug release. Thus, if this internship research project abroad is approved, the block copolymers PCL-b-PNVCL, synthesized in Brazil, as well as physical mixtures of homopolymers (PCL and PNVCL), will be used for developing nanofibers by electrospinning processes, in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the "École de Technologie Supérieure" in Montreal (ETS), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Nicole Raymonde Demarquette. It will be also studied the encapsulation of a drug, the hydrophobic drug ketoprophen, and its in vitro release kinetics. (AU)