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

• Grant number: 15/13830-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2015
• End date: December 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Simone de Fátima Medeiros Sampaio
• Grantee: Graziele Aparecida de Jesus Aguiar
• Supervisor: Nicole Raymonde Demarquette
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de Lorena (EEL). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Lorena , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/09412-0 - Encapsulation of ketoprofen in polimeric matrices based on poly(µ-caprolactone)-b-poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PCL-b-PNVCL) by Emulsification-diffusion/evaporation, BP.IC

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)