Light and pH dual‐sensitive biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles for controlled release of cargos

Abstract

In this article, a light and pH dual‐sensitive block copolymer PEG‐b‐poly(MPC‐Azo/DEA) was facilely prepared for the first time by azide‐alkyne click chemistry between amphiphilic block copolymer bearing pendant alkynyl group poly(ethylene glycol)‐poly(5‐methyl‐5‐propargylxycarbonyl‐1,3‐dioxane‐2‐one) (PEG‐b‐poly(MPC)) and two azide‐containing compounds azobenzene derivative (Azo‐N3) and 2‐azido‐1‐ethyl‐diethylamine (DEA‐N3). Light response of the polymeric nanoparticles benefits from the azobenzene segments and pH responsiveness is attributed to DEA moieties. The prepared copolymer could self‐assemble into spherical micelle particles. The morphological changes of these particles in response to dual stimuli were investigated by UV/vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Nile Red (NR) was utilized as probe, and fluorescence spectroscopy was served as an evidence for the enhanced release of cargos from polymeric nanoparticles under combined stimulation. Anticancer drug, DOX was loaded into the nanoparticles and the loaded‐DOX could be released from these nanoparticles under dual stimuli. MTT assays further demonstrated that PEG‐b‐poly(MPC) and PEG‐b‐poly(MPC‐Azo/DEA) were of biocompatibility and low toxicity against HepG2 cells as well as SMCC‐7721 cells. More importantly, the prepared DOX‐loaded nanoparticles exhibited good anticancer ability for the two cells. The synthesized light and pH dual‐sensitive biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles were expected to be platforms for precisely controlled release of encapsulated molecules. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 1773–1783

Remote Light‐Responsive Nanocarriers for Controlled Drug Delivery: Advances and Perspectives

“…[48] The photoinduced head-to-tail depolymerization strategy has been widely applied in the preparation of self-immolative dendrimers with prodrugs. [49] Shabat and co-workers developed a kind of carbamate-based self-immolative dendrimers containing Small 2019, 15,1903060 [38] Copyright 2018, American Chemical Society. Scheme 1.…”

“…The model established could be potentially applied in the therapies for macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Replacement of Small 2019, 15,1903060 [47] Copyright 2012, American Chemical Society. Scheme 2.…”

“…Small 2019, 15,1903060 In a subsequent work by Langer and co-workers, [57,58] the PEGylated light-responsive nanoparticles were biocompatible and employed as drug carrier for the photosensitizer mTHPC in photodynamic therapy (Figure 7a). After illumination with 365 nm UV light for 5 min (174 J cm −2 ), in vitro drug release studies showed that nanoparticles containing 50 wt% LrPC (mTHPC-(LrPC50%-PEG)-PLGA-NP) underwent a burst release of 43.2 ± 8.2% mTHPC, which is two times faster than the nonilluminated nanoparticles (15.0 ± 2.2%) ( Figure 7b).…”

“…Small 2019, 15,1903060 Recently, Thomas and co-workers reported the preparation of nanoscale polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) as the lightcontrolled drug delivery systems. The nanoscale PEC was formulated by self-assembling of oNB protected carboxyl groups of amphiphilic block copolymer (Figure 8).…”

“…[4] Once the nanocarriers accumulated to the diseased tissues through passive (such as enhanced permeation and retention-EPR for tumors) and active targeting, another key criterion for enhancing treatment efficiency is spatial and temporal control release of therapeutic drugs at the desired site. [11][12][13] With the rapid development of nanobiotechnology, synthetic stimuli-responsive biomaterials have drawn significant attention due to their promising applications in fields of biomedicine and pharmacy, such as drug delivery, [14][15][16] biosensor, [17] and tissue adhesion. [18] Such materials display Engineering of smart photoactivated nanomaterials for targeted drug delivery systems (DDS) has recently attracted considerable research interest as light enables precise and accurate controlled release of drug molecules in specific diseased cells and/or tissues in a highly spatial and temporal manner.…”