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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2015 Feb 24;7(8):5017–5028. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5b00655

Scheme 1.

Scheme 1

A schematic illustration of the procedure for encapsulating hydrophilic (i.e., water-soluble) trehalose in genipin-crosslinked Pluronic F127-chitosan nanoparticles (GNPs) to obtain the nanoparticle-encapsulated trehalose (nTre). After genipin crosslinking, the solution turns from light brown for the aqueous solution of Pluronic F127-chitosan nanoparticles (NPs) into blue for the aqueous solution of GNPs. The GNPs are pH responsive in size at 37 °C although they are not as thermally responsive in size at pH 7 as the Pluronic F127-chitosan NPs. The size (diameter) shown at various temperatures and pH values is for nTre made with a feeding ratio of 1:10 (trehalose:Pluronic F127-chitosan NPs) in weight. PPG: poly(propylene glycol); PEG: poly(ethylene glycol); and PBS: phosphate buffered saline (1x by default)