Supramolecular nanomachines for sugar responsive insulin release systems

Abstract

Cyclodextrins (CyDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides composed of 6, 7, or 8 glucopyranoside units, named α-, β-, or γ-CD, respectively. CyDs consist of a hydrophobic cavity in which hydrophobic molecules are encapsulated to form an inclusion complex. CyDs are widely used in pharmaceutical applications because they function as nanocapsules to improve the stability and solubility of drugs. Recently, CyDs have attracted much attention as for use as components of supramolecular nanostructures that are particularly attractive because of their unique structures. We modified CyDs with phenylboronic acid (PBA), which forms covalent bonds with the diol groups of sugar, and used the resulting PBA-CyDs to prepare supramolecular nanomachines that undergo structural transformation in the presence of a chemical signal in the form of a sugar. PBA-α-CyD formed a supramolecular polymer that showed consecutive intermolecular interactions between PBA and the cavity of another PBA-α-CyD, whereas PBA-β-CyD formed head-to-head dimers in which one PBA moiety was encapsulated in the other. These supramolecular nanostructures disintegrated in the presence of sugars because of the structural change in the PBA moiety and loss of the driving force of the supramolecular assembly. These features of disintegration can be potentially used to prepare a nanomachine that would act as a sugar-responsive insulin release system. Currently, we are studying sugar-responsive nanomachines composed of PEGylated insulin and PBA-γ-CyD. © 2013 The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.