Redox-sensitive polymeric micelles with aggregation-induced emission for bioimaging and delivery of anticancer drugs

Abstract

Background Nano-drug delivery systems show considerable promise for effective cancer therapy. Polymeric micelles have attracted extensive attention as practical nanocarriers for target drug delivery and controlled drug delivery system, however, the distribution of micelles and the release of the drug are difficult to trace in cancer cells. Therefore, the construction of a redox-sensitive multifunctional drug delivery system for intelligent release of anticancer drugs and simultaneous diagnostic imaging and therapy remains an attractive research subject. Results To construct a smart drug delivery system for simultaneous imaging and cancer chemotherapy, mPEG-ss-Tripp was prepared and self-assembled into redox-sensitive polymeric micelles with a diameter of 105 nm that were easily detected within cells using confocal laser scanning microscopy based on aggregation-induced emission. Doxorubicin-loaded micelles rapidly released the drug intracellularly when GSH reduced the disulfide bond. The drug-loaded micelles inhibited tumor xenografts in mice, while this efficacy was lower without the GSH-responsive disulfide bridge. These results establish an innovative multi-functional polymeric micelle for intracellular imaging and redox-triggered drug deliver to cancer cells. Conclusions A novel redox-sensitive drug delivery system with AIE property was constructed for simultaneous cellular imaging and intelligent drug delivery and release. This smart drug delivery system opens up new possibilities for multifunctional drug delivery systems.

Solid-Phase Synthesized Copolymers for the Assembly of pH-Sensitive Micelles Suitable for Drug Delivery Applications

“…Loading the maximum amount of DOX into the micelles considerably altered the resulted hydrodynamic diameters ( Figure 2 d–f). A significant characteristic increase [ 53 , 54 ] in the hydrodynamic diameters for all the investigated samples in comparison to the free micelles was observed. By analyzing the histograms in Figure 2 c–e and Table S1 , it was observed that in the case of the PEG2K-PHis20 + DOX sample, the average determined hydrodynamic diameter was 172 ± 5 nm with a polydispersity of 0.23 ± 0.02, the PEG2K-PHis26 + DOX sample presented a hydrodynamic diameter of 219 ± 5 nm (polydispersity of 0.21 ± 0.03), while the PEG2K-PHis32 + DOX sample reached a hydrodynamic diameter of 290 ± 10 nm (polydispersity of 0.28 ± 0.03).…”

Biomimetic GBM-targeted drug delivery system boosting ferroptosis for immunotherapy of orthotopic drug-resistant GBM

“…The hemolysis of Fe 3 O 4 -siPD-L1@M -BV2 was investigated by using rat erythrocytes [ 43 ]. The release of siPD-L1 from Fe 3 O 4 -siPD-L1@M -BV2 in GSH-containing solution was observed by gel retardation assay [ 44 ]. The stability of Fe 3 O 4 -siPD-L1@M -BV2 in RNase A-containing buffer was observed by gel retardation assay.…”

Amphiphilic AIEgen‐polymer aggregates: Design, self‐assembly and biomedical applications

“…AIEgenic micelles have been widely utilized to deliver aromatic drugs in nanomedicine studies, due to the beneficial π-π and hydrophobic interactions between the drugs and the AIEgens which inhibit cargo leakage during transportation. [81,83,[167][168][169][170][171][172] In addition, AIEgenic micelles have been endowed with stimuli-responsive units to achieve controlled release when the nanoparticles reached the targeted tissue microenvironment. [43,173] For instance, Zhao et al reported AIEgenic micelles with enzyme responsive properties as drug carriers (Figure 7A).…”