AMPHIPHILIC BLOCK COPOLYMER ENHANCING BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERIC FILMS FOR CONTROLLED PROTEIN DELIVERY

Abstract

The goal of this research was to fabricate and compare the properties of PLGA, PLA, PEG-PLGA and PLGA/PEG-PLGA blend films encapsulating bovine serum albumin by water-in-oil single emulsion method. We explored the emulsion stabilizing properties of PEG-PLGA copolymers upon blending with PLGA and compared its effect on the properties of films with PLGA, PLA and PEG-PLGA film formulations containing varying concentrations of non-ionic surfactant Span-80. PLGA/PEG-PLGA blends resulted in highly stable emulsions without any obvious phase separation. Surface morphology of blend films indicated decreased surface roughness in comparison to formulations containing Span-80. In vitro protein release studies indicated that the proteins were completely released from PLGA/PEG-PLGA films in a controlled fashion. The protein was found to be stable after processing, as evaluated by SDS-PAGE. The presence of PEG chains caused a significantly higher degradation rate due to higher water uptake. In conclusion, blending PEG-PLGA diblock copolymer with PLGA resulted in effective biodegradable films that can release BSA in a controlled manner with no compromise in its stability.