Novel thermoresponsive star-liked nanomicelles for targeting of anticancer agent

Abstract

Micelles are frequently used as drug carriers in the area of nanomedicine owing to their high potential for cancer therapy. In this study, we report the synthesis of a novel thermoresponsive star-liked amphiphilic block copolymer based on poly(ɛ-caprolactone)-b-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) [HAPs-g-PCL-b-PNIPAM] by ring-opening (ROP) and reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The micellar properties and thermoresponsive behavior of HAPs-g-PCL-b-PNIPAM were investigated by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopies, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. We developed a biodegradable star-liked polymeric micelle for the overcome limitations of docetaxel (DTX)-loading and to enhanced pharmacokinetics. The DTX-encapsulation efficiency was obtained to be 95.5%. Release behaviors of DTX from the nanomicelles demonstrated that the rate of DTX release could be efficiently controlled by temperature and pH value. We demonstrated the cytotoxicity of the drug in vitro against breast cancer cell line (MCF7) using the MTT assays, DAPI staining, and cellular uptake. In conclusion, we visualized that the synthesized DTX-nanomicelles can be used as an anticancer drug delivery system considering their useful biocompatibility and excellent physicochemical properties.