Hydrolytically degradable polymer micelles for drug delivery: a SAXS/SANS kinetic study.

We report kinetic studies of therapeutically highly potent polymer-drug conjugates consisting of amphiphilic N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA)-based copolymers bearing the anticancer drug doxorubicin (Dox). Highly hydrophobic cholesterol moieties as well as the drug were attached to the polymer backbone by a pH-sensitive hydrazone bond. Moreover, the structure of the spacer between the polymer carrier and the cholesterol moiety differed in order to influence the release rate of the hydrophobic moiety, and thus the disintegration of the high-molecular-weight micellar nanoparticle structure.