Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) is widely used in the biomedical field as a laxative, but also for the modification of drugs, proteins, polymers and inorganic nanoparticles to increase their hydrophilicity and prolong their circulation in the bloodstream, thus promoting their accumulation, for example at tumor sites. Although considered biologically inert and safe by the FDA in the USA, it has been demonstrated over the past two decades that the immune system can produce antibodies that bind specifically to PEG, leading to accelerated blood clearance of PEGylated products, as well as allergic reactions. Among the alternatives to PEG, poly(N-methyl glycine), also known as polysarcosine (polySar), is attracting growing interest due to its biodegradability, non-toxicity and non-immunogenicity, as well as its water solubility and excellent shelf life. This polymer is generally obtained by ring-opening polymerization of sarcosine N-carboxyanhydride.
The project aims to synthesize sarcosine-based macromonomers and polymerize them to prepare polysarcosines with novel architectures and properties. Their properties in solution will be studied and exploited to develop emulsifiers for the production of submicron emulsions by a low-energy process such as phase inversion temperature with a collaborator from the University of Lorraine. These polymers could find applications in the biomedical field (e.g. drug and gene delivery, theranostics), but also as potential components in cosmetics.
