Fig. 2: PSs form at room temperature with uniform size and morphology, with high loading efficiency for protein and siRNA payloads.
a, BCP end-group measured with colorimetric assays to determine amounts of mannose (phenol-H2SO4 assay) and residual free thiol (Ellman’s assay) (n = 2 for both). b, Thermal response of D130–H70 in PBS as measured by temperature-varied DLS to probe total scattering intensity as well as particle size. An increase in scattering intensity is indicative of nanoparticle formation from freely dissolved unimers. A gradual increase followed by sudden drop in radius demonstrates distinct behaviour associated with micelle-worm–vesicle transition. c, A schematic representation for blended formulations consisting of three BCPs: D130–H70 (inert), D130–H70-Mann (mannosylated) and D130–TM25 (charged). For brevity, formulations are referred to only as weight per cent of charged and mannosylated BCPs used (TxMy), with the remainder being the bioinert D130–H70. d, Size distributions of all nanoparticle formulations were measured by DLS and show favourable sizes (ca. 100 nm) with low dispersity (PDI <0.2) for blended formulations. e, Representative negative-stain TEM image of T0M0 PSs prepared at room temperature showing vesicular morphology. f, MALS data for the samples in d, using the Rayleigh–Gans approximation for spherical particles and denoting form factor (RG/RH). RG/RH ≈ 1 suggests a vesicular structure. Scattering intensity, Rθ/Kc, is plotted as a function of scattering angle, sin2(θ/2). P, the particle form factor as a function of light scattering angle θ; u, a substitution variable; λ, the wavelength of the laser, which is 658 nm. g, Loading efficiency as determined by non-reducing, detergent-free gel electrophoresis for protein and siRNA. Faintness in bands shows effective loading relative to free payload control, demonstrating high loading efficiency for the BCP blend formulations indicated. OVA was used as a model protein, and fluorescent (FAM)-siRNA. Data in a are technical replicates plotted as mean ± s.d. and are compared using an unpaired, two-tailed Student’s t-test.
