초록 |
This study introduces a new transdermal nanocarrier system, which can take both inter- and intracellular pathways. For this, polymer-lipid hybrid micelles are fabricated by co-assembly of amphiphilic poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) with mannosylerythritol lipid (MEL). Thanks to asymmetric alkyl chain configuration of MEL, the hybrid micelles show structural flexibility as well as deformability, which can be confirmed by XRD, DSC, and NMR analyses. Those properties enable the micelles to pass through between intercellular lipids in the stratum corneum. Moreover, the conjugation of cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) to MEL induces interaction with the skin cell membrane so that micelles can also deliver drugs via intracellular pathway. From combined in vivo and in vitro skin penetration studies, finally, we demonstrate that the micelles remarkably improve transdermal delivery efficiency. |