Temperature-sensitive Micelles as Artificial Chaperones for Insulin Protection

Jia-Wen Chen; Yan Xiao; Mei-Dong Lang

doi:10.1007/s10118-024-3244-z

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Temperature-sensitive Micelles as Artificial Chaperones for Insulin Protection

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2025-01-23

- Temperature-sensitive Micelles as Artificial Chaperones for Insulin Protection
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 43, Issue 2, Pages: 350-359(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
- Author bio：
  
  yxiao@ecust.edu.cn (Y.X.)
  mdlang@ecust.edu.cn (M.D.L.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-024-3244-z
  CLC：
- Published：01 February 2025，
  
  Published Online：25 November 2024，
  
  Received：13 September 2024，
  
  Revised：29 September 2024，
  
  Accepted：2024-09-30
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
JIA-WEN CHEN, YAN XIAO, MEI-DONG LANG. Temperature-sensitive Micelles as Artificial Chaperones for Insulin Protection. [J]. Chinese journal of polymer science, 2025, 43(2): 350-359.
DOI：

JIA-WEN CHEN, YAN XIAO, MEI-DONG LANG. Temperature-sensitive Micelles as Artificial Chaperones for Insulin Protection. [J]. Chinese journal of polymer science, 2025, 43(2): 350-359. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-024-3244-z.

摘要

A series of temperature-sensitive polycaprolactone copolymers were designed and prepared. The binding ability of the micelles to proteins can be modulated by changing the temperature

which in turn enables long-term storage and high-temperature protection of proteins.

Abstract

Insulin is an essential and versatile protein taking part in the control of blood glucose levels and protein anabolism. However

under prolonged storage or high temperature stress

insulin tends to unfold and aggregate into toxic amyloid fibrils

leading to loss of physiological function. Inspired by natural chaperones

a series of temperature-sensitive polycaprolactone-based micelles were designed to prevent insulin from deactivation. The micelles were fabricated through the self-assembly of amphiphilic copolymers of methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(4-diethylformamide caprolactone-

-caprolactone) (mPEG

-P(DECL-

-CL))

which had a regular spherical morphology with particle sizes of about 100 nm. In addition

the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the micelles could be tuned to 9 and 29 °C by changing the ratio of DECL to CL. Benefiting from the temperature-sensitivity of DECL segment

the binding ability of micelles to insulin could be modulated by changing the temperature. Above LCST

micelles effectively inhibited insulin aggregation and protected it f

rom thermal inactivation due to the strong binding ability between the hydrophobic segment DECL and insulin. Below LCST

DECL segment returned to hydrophilic and bound weakly with insulin

leading to the release of insulin and assisting in its recovery of secondary structure. Thus

these temperature-sensitive micelles provided an effective strategy for insulin protection.

关键词

Keywords

Temperature-sensitiveInsulinMicellesChaperones

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