posted on 2017-05-16, 00:00authored byYufen Xiao, Hui Sun, Jianzhong Du
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, life-threatening
illness that affects
people of every age and ethnicity. It is a long-term pain for those
who are affected and must regulate their blood glucose level by frequent
subcutaneous injection of insulin every day. Herein, we propose a
noninsulin and antidiabetic drug-free strategy for regulating blood
glucose level by a nanosized “sugar sponge” which is
a lectin-bound glycopolymersome capable of regulating glucose due
to the dynamic recognition between the lectin and different carbohydrates.
The glycopolymersome is self-assembled from poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly[(7-(2-methacryloyloxyethoxy)-4-methylcoumarin)-stat-2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate-stat-(α-d-glucopyranosyl)ethyl methacrylate] [PEO-b-P(CMA-stat-DEA-stat-GEMA)].
The lectin bound in the glycopolymersome has different affinity for
the glucose in the blood and the glucosyl group in the glycopolymersome.
Therefore, this sugar sponge functions as a glucose storage unit by
dynamic sugar replacement: The lectin in the sugar sponge will bind
and store the glucose from its surrounding solution when the glucose
concentration is too high and will release the glucose when the glucose
concentration is too low. In vitro, this sugar-breathing behavior
is characterized by a remarkable size change of the sugar sponge due
to the swelling/shrinkage at high/low glucose levels, which can be
used for blood sugar monitoring. In vivo, this sugar sponge showed
an excellent antidiabetic effect for type I diabetic mice within 2
days upon one dose, which is much longer than traditional long-acting
insulin. Overall, this concept of “controlling sugar levels
with sugar” opens new avenues for regulating the blood glucose
level without the involvement of insulin or other antidiabetic drugs.