Issue 28, 2025

Co-assembly of amphiphilic triblock copolymers with DNA-polymer targeting ligands in solution

Abstract

The development of targeted drug delivery systems is highly valued, which not only improves the therapeutic effect of drugs, but also reduces the amount of drugs used and reduces side effects. By taking advantage of the excellent affinity and specificity of nucleic acid aptamers and co-assembly of targeting ligands with polymers, we used dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations to explore the co-assembly behavior of amphiphilic ABA triblock copolymers and DNA-polymer targeting ligands in dilute solutions. By adjusting interaction parameters and concentrations of various components, we observed the formation of different targeting polymer nanostructures, such as targeting polymeric vesicles, sphere-like micelles, and disk-like micelles. The results show that the inclusion of targeting ligands prolongs the formation time of polymeric vesicles, and by modulating the interactions between DNA beads with hydrophilic beads and solvent beads, the localization of targeting ligands within the vesicles can be precisely controlled. When the interactions between DNA beads with hydrophilic beads aTS is high, the targeting ligands aggregate on the vesicle exterior, while at lower aTS values, they are uniformly distributed inside the vesicles. Additionally, the polymer and targeting ligand concentrations will influence the morphology of the aggregates, transitioning from sphere-like micelles to disk-like micelles and eventually to vesicles, including the mixture of multiple aggregate types under certain conditions. The findings provide theoretical support for the development of multi-targeted polymeric vesicles, advancing the field of precision therapy.

Graphical abstract: Co-assembly of amphiphilic triblock copolymers with DNA-polymer targeting ligands in solution

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 Jan 2025
Accepted
05 Jun 2025
First published
20 Jun 2025

Soft Matter, 2025,21, 5764-5772

Co-assembly of amphiphilic triblock copolymers with DNA-polymer targeting ligands in solution

J. Zhou, M. Zou, X. Qiu and R. Wang, Soft Matter, 2025, 21, 5764 DOI: 10.1039/D5SM00107B

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