Bicomponent polymeric micelles for pH-controlled delivery of doxorubicin.

In this study, a pH-responsive micelle was designed utilizing the pH-sensitivity of borate bonds formed between dopamine and boronic acid. First, methyl (polyethylene glycol)-block-polycaprolactone (mPEG-PCL) was conjugated with 4-cyano-4-(thiobenzoylthio)pentanoic acid (CTP) to obtain a macroinitiator. Two different segments poly(dopamine methacrylamide) (PDMA) and poly(vinylphenylboronic acid) (PVBA) were then grafted to the end of mPEG-PCL. Two triblock copolymers, mPEG-PCL-PDMA and mPEG-PCL-PVBA, were then obtained by reversible addition-fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerization. These copolymers and their mixture self-assembled in aqueous solution to form micelles that were able to load hydrophobic anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX). These two-component micelles were found to be pH-sensitive, in contrast to the one-component micelles. Furthermore, MTT studies showed that the micelles were almost nontoxic. The DOX-loaded micelles showed cytotoxicity equivalent to that of DOX at high concentration. In vivo antitumor experiments showed that this pH-sensitive polymeric micellar system had an enhanced therapeutic effect on tumors. These two-component boronate-based pH micelles are universally applicable to the delivery of anticancer drugs, showing great potential for cancer therapy. PMID: 32090637 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Drug Delivery - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Drug Deliv Source Type: research