Cell membrane-inspired polymeric micelles as carriers for drug delivery

Abstract

In cancer therapy, surface engineering of drug delivery systems plays an essential role in their colloidal stability, biocompatibility and prolonged blood circulation. Inspired by the cell membrane consisting of phospholipids and glycolipids, a zwitterionic phosphorylcholine functionalized chitosan oligosaccharide (PC-CSO) was first synthesized to mimic the hydrophilic head groups of those amphipathic lipids. Then hydrophobic stearic acid (SA) similar to lipid fatty acids was grafted onto PC-CSO to form amphiphilic PC-CSO-SA copolymers. Cell membrane-mimetic micelles with a zwitterionic surface and a hydrophobic SA core were prepared by the self-assembly of PC-CSO-SA copolymers, showing excellent stability under extreme conditions including protein containing media, high salt content or a wide pH range. Doxorubicin (DOX) was successfully entrapped into polymeric micelles through the hydrophobic interaction between DOX and SA segments. After fast internalization by cancer cells, sustained drug release from micelles to the cytoplasm and nucleus was achieved. This result suggests that these biomimetic polymeric micelles may be promising drug delivery systems in cancer therapy.

In situ synthesis of multidentate PEGylated chitosan modified gold nanoparticles with good stability and biocompatibility

“…[28][29] As a natural linear polysaccharide, chitosan and its derivatives are widely employed or assessed in biomedical application due to their nontoxic, biocompatible and biodegradable properties. [30][31][32] The rich reactive amino groups of chitosan are useful for chemical modifications. Moreover, it has been reported that chitosan modified nanoparticles could enhance the targeted accumulation and facilitate the tumor uptake due to its positively charged surface.…”

Paclitaxel prodrug based mixed micelles for tumor-targeted chemotherapy

“…To address these dilemmas, micelles as a preferable drug delivery system (DDS) based on various types of polymeric materials have been proposed. 1,2 Micelles have raised a special interest as nano-sized DDSs not only because they provide an increased solubility and stability of hydrophobic drugs, 3,4 but also due to their superior advantages versus the free drug both in vitro and in vivo. 5 Micelles with a size between 20 and 200 nm are large enough to prevent the premature elimination via glomerular ltration and sufficiently small to pass through certain blood vessels.…”

Easy on-demand single-pass self-assembly and modification to fabricate gold@graphene-based anti-inflammatory nanoplatforms

“…The Au@GO-ZC incorporation with nystatin led to significant decreases in MIP production by 520 and 212 pg mL −1 for An/Am = 0.3 and An/Am = 0.7, respectively. This might be due to binding cell surface receptors by ZC 33 that regulates MIP production by nystatin through modifying cell signaling pathways. Insets of Fig.…”