Title
Development of core-shell nanostructures by in situ assembly of pyridine-grafted diblock copolymer and transferrin for drug delivery applications
Author
Lin Lu, Liang Yuan, Jing Yan, Chuanbing Tang, Qian Wang
Year
2016
Journal
Biomacromolecules
Abstract
We previously reported the co-assembly of various proteins with poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) to form core-shell nanoparticles (CSNPs). However, P4VP suffers from its cytotoxicity and in vivo toxicity which prohibit it from many potential biomedical applications. Here, pyridine grafted diblock copolymer poly(caprolactone-graft-pyridine)-block-poly(caprolactone) [P(CL-g-Py)-b-PCL] was prepared through a combination of ring-opening polymerization and Cu(I) catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction. CSNPs could be readily constructed by the self-assembly of transferrin (Tf) and P(CL-g-Py)-b-PCL, which showed narrower range of particle sizes, improved stability, and higher loading capacity for anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX), compared with similar particles prepared from the co-assembly of Tf and P4VP. Additionally, the drug loaded Tf/P(CL-g-Py)-b-PCL CSNPs could effectively target MCF7 cancer cells via the binding of Tf to transferrin receptors (TfR).
Instrument
J-815
Keywords
Circular dichroism, Nanostructures, Polymers, Pharmaceutical, Materials