Abstract
Heart attacks are a major cause of death and injury. Therefore, finding ways to protect the myocardium is crucial. Polymersomes are nanometer-sized vesicles that spontaneously self-assemble from diblock copolymers at physiological pH. As they are hollow, they can be loaded with diverse molecules of interest, from fluorescent tracers to cardioprotective drugs. Once taken up by cells they disassemble, thereby releasing their contents inside the cell. This project is designed to combine the separate chemical and cardiovascular expertise of the two groups to investigate for the first time whether polymersomes can be used to protect the heart.
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