Mercaptan acids modified amphiphilic copolymers for efficient loading and release of doxorubicin.

In this paper, four different kinds of mercaptan acids modified amphiphilic copolymers mPEG-b-PATMC-g-SRCOOH (R=CH2, CH2CH2, (CH2)10 and CH(COOH)CH2) were successfully synthesized by thiol-ene "click" reaction between pendent carbon-carbon double bonds of PEG-b-PATMC and thiol groups of thioglycolic acid, 3-mercaptopropionic acid, 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid or 2-mercaptosuccinic acid. DLS and TEM measurements showed that all the mPEG-b-PATMC-g-SRCOOH copolymers could self-assemble to form micelles which dispersed in spherical shape with nano-size before and after DOX loading. The positively-charged DOX could effectively load into copolymer micelles via synergistic hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. All DOX-loaded mPEG-b-PATMC-g-SRCOOH micelles displayed sustained drug release behavior without an initial burst which could be further adjusted by the conditions of ionic strength and pH. Especially in the case of mPEG-b-PATMC-g-S(CH2)10COOH (P3) micelles, the suitable hydrophobility and charge density were not only beneficial to improve the DOX-loading efficiency, they were also good for obtaining smaller particle size, higher micelle stability and more timely drug delivery. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and MTT assays further demonstrated efficient cellular uptake of DOX delivered by mPEG-b-PATMC-g-SRCOOH micelles and potent cytotoxic activity against cancer cells.

Thymine-functionalized amphiphilic biodegradable copolymers for high-efficiency loading and controlled release of methotrexate.

In this study, a novel thymine-functionalized six-membered cyclic carbonate monomer (TAC) was synthesized by the Michael-addition reaction between thymine and acryloyl carbonate (AC). The corresponding functional amphiphilic block copolymer mPEG-b-PTAC was further successfully synthesized by ring-opening polymerization using immobilized porcine pancreas lipase (IPPL) as the catalyst and mPEG as the macroinitiator. Meanwhile, mPEG-b-P(TAC-co-DTC) and mPEG-b-PDTC were also synthesized by the same enzymatic methods for comparison on different TAC contents. The structures of monomer and copolymers were characterized by (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR and FTIR. All the amphiphilic block copolymers could self-assemble to form nano-sized micelles in aqueous solution. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation showed that the micelles dispersed in spherical shape with nano-size before and after MTX loading. (1)H-NMR and FTIR results confirmed the successful formation of multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions between exposed thymine groups of hydrophobic PTAC segments and 2,6-diaminopyridine (DAP) groups of MTX molecules, which resulting in the higher drug loading capacity and the pH-sensitive drug release behavior. MTT assays also indicated lower toxicity of copolymer but higher potent cytotoxic activity of MTX-loaded copolymer against HeLa cells.