A Novel Gold Nanorods Coated by Stimuli-Responsive ABC Triblock Copolymer for Chemotherapy of Solid Tumors

Publication date: Available online 21 March 2019Source: European Polymer JournalAuthor(s): Aliyeh Ghamkhari, Farideh Mahmoodzadeh, Marjan Ghorbani, Hamed HamishehkarAbstractGold nanoparticles have been used for centuries in medicine for clinical procedures. In this context, gold nanorods are considered as very promising in cancer therapy. For this purpose, gold nanorods (GNRs) coated by stimuli-responsive thiol-end capped ABC triblock copolymer [poly (metacrylic acid)-block-poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)-block-poly (N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-SH; P(MAAc-b-NiPAAM-b-DMAEMA)-SH] for intracellular delivery of doxorubicin (DOX). The chemical structures of triblock copolymer were explored by means of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), 1HNMR spectroscopies and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The success of coating gold nanorods with triblock copolymer was confirmed by means of ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) measurement. Then, the doxorubicin (DOX)-loading capacity and dual sensitivity drug release ability of the nanocariers (GNRs@triblock copolymer-DOX) were also assessed. The biocompatibility of the prepared nanomaterials was confirmed through the evaluating survival rate of breast cancer cell line (MCF7) using MTT assay. Finally, cellular uptake study and DAPI staining analysis confirmed that nanocarrier successfully improved drugs...
Source: European Polymer Journal - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research