• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.795-799
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• 2007

The bulk properties of poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate)-poly(ethylene glycol), PBLG-PEO, diblock copolymer were investigated. The helical transition from 7/2 to 13/5 for pure PBLG was at 120 oC while those of GE-1 and GE-2, which contain flexible PEO block 40 wt% and 60 wt% respectively, were shown at 135℃ on DSC experiments. FT-IR and XRD experiments were shown that the diblock copolymers maintained their α-helical structure in the temperature range between 25℃ and 175℃. Increasing relative size of coil part resulted in the increase of intermolecular packing distances. Due to well-maintained helical structure, lyotropic LC phases were observed for the PBLG-PEO block copolymer by the polarized optical microscope (POM). Especially, GE-3 copolymer, which has 12.5 wt% PEO contents, showed the smectic C phase. The competition of favorable aggregation energy between rod-rod and coil-coil, and unfavorable aggregation energy of rod-coil give rise to change the supramolecular structure in mixed solvent.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.237-240
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• 1992

A series of biodegradable block copolymers consisting of $poly({\gamma}-benzyl\;L-glutamate)$ (PBLG) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-lactoselactone were prepared by polymerization of PEO-lactoselactone and ${\gamma}-benzyl$ L-glutamate-N-carboxyanhydride and characterized by IR and NMR. From circular dichroism measurements, it was found that the polymers exist in the ${\alpha}-helical$ conformation. Block copolymer microspheres were prepared by solvent-extraction-precipitation method for their primary evaluation for medical and biological applications.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.962-967
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• 1998

Block copolymers consisting of poly(rbenzyl L-glutamate) (PBLG) as the hydrophobic part and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as the hydrophilic part were synthesized and characterized. Polymeric micelles of the block copolymers (abbreviated GEG) were prepared by a dialysis method. The GEG block copolymers were associated in water to form polymeric micelles, and the critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of the block copolymers decreased with increasing PBLG chain length in the block copolymers. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations revealed polymeric micelles of spherical shapes. From dynamic light scattering (DLS) study, sizes of polymeric micelles of GEG-1, GEG-2, and GEG-3 copolymer were 106.5±59.2 nm, 79.4±46.0 nm, and 37.9±13.3 nm, respectively. The drug loading contents of GEG-1, GEG-2 and GEG-3 polymeric micelles were 12.6, 11.9, and 11.0 wt %, respectively. These results indicated that the drugloading contents were dependent on PBLG chain length in the copolymer; the longer the PBLG chain length, the more the drug-loading contents. Release of norfloxacin (NFX) from the nanoparticles was slower in higher loading contents of NFX than in lower loading contents due to the hydrophobic interaction between PBLG core and NFX.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.383-388
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• 2000

Multiblock copolymers consisting of poly( g-benzyl L-glutamate) (PBLG) as the hydrophobic part and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as the hydrophilic part (GEG) were synthesized and characterized. GEG polymeric micelles were prepared by the dialysis technique. Particle size distributions based on intensity,volume, and number-average were 22.6 $\pm$ 11.9 nm, 23.5 $\pm$ 4.6 nm, and 23.7 $\pm$ 37 nm, respectively. It was observed that par-ticle size and size distribution of GEG polymeric micelles changed significantly with the choice of initial sol-vent. Transmission electron micrographs (TEM) showed the polymeric micelles to be spherically shaped, with sizes ranging from 20 nm to 40 nm in diameter. Fluorescence spectroscopy measurements suggested that GEG block copolymers wereassociated in water to form polymeric micelles, and the critical micelle concentrations (CMC) value of the block copolymers was 0.0094 g/L. Further evidenceof micelle formation of GEG block copolymers and limited mobility of the PBLG chain in the core ohe micelle was obtained with 1 H NMR in D2O.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.2-8
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• 2003

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.