UCLA

The controlled transformation of polymeric vesicles into stable nonspherical morphologies is of interest as a means to mimic cells, create nanoreactors, and improve their potential for therapeutic delivery applications. We have found that the poly(dehydroalanine) segments in poly(l-methionine sulfoxide)_x-b-poly(dehydroalanine)_y, M^O_xA^DH_y, copolypeptides form membranes that provide plasticity and selective permeability in DMSO/water mixtures, which allow the predictable control of vesicle shape by the variation of dialysis conditions. The findings of this study expand vesicle shape transformation methods to these biodegradable block copolypeptide vesicles, which are amenable to development for applications in therapeutic delivery.