Rapidly disassembling nanomicelles with disulfide-linked PEG shells for glutathione-mediated intracellular drug delivery.

The synthesis and biological efficacy of novel nanomicelles that rapidly disassemble and release their encapsulated payload intracellularly under tumor-relevant glutathione (GSH) levels are reported. The unique design includes a PEG-sheddable shell and poly(ε-benzyloxycarbonyl-l-lysine) core with a redox-sensitive disulfide linkage.

Novel vesicles self-assembled from amphiphilic star-armed PEG/polypeptide hybrid copolymers for drug delivery.

A novel amphiphilic four-armed [poly(ε-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine)]₂-block-poly(ethylene glycol)-block-[poly(ε-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine)]₂ hybrid copolymer has been prepared. The cytotoxicity study shows that the copolymer has good biocompatibility with no obvious inhibition effect on cell growth. The amphiphilic copolymers could self-assemble to form vesicles in aqueous solution.