Self-Indicating Polymer Prodrug Nanoparticles for pH-Responsive Drug Delivery in Cancer Cells and Real-Time Monitoring of Drug Release.

Amphiphilic self-indicating and responsive polymer-based prodrugs have generated much interest as potential stimuli-responsive intelligent drug delivery systems (DDS) due to their ability to selectively deliver drugs to the cancer cells and to monitor real-time cellular uptake of the drug by imaging technique(s). In this direction, we have synthesized a new pH-responsive -vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and coumarin-based fluorescent self-indicating polymeric prodrug (SIPD), poly(NVP)--poly(FPA.DOX--FPA--CA).

Redox-Responsive Efficient DNA and Drug Co-Release from Micelleplexes Formed from a Fluorescent Cationic Amphiphilic Polymer.

Cationic polymeric micelles that are capable of co-releasing drugs and DNA into cells have attracted considerable interest as combination chemotherapy in cancer treatment. To this effect, we have presently developed a cationic fluorescent amphiphilic copolymer, poly(,'-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate)--(poly(2-(methacryloyl)oxyethyl-2'-hydroxyethyl disulfidecholate)--2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl-1-pyrenebutyrate) [PDMAEMA--(PMAODCA--PPBA)], having pendent cholate moiety linked through a redox-responsive disulfide bond. The amphiphilic nature of the copolymer facilitated the formation of cationic micellar nanoparticles in aqueous medium.

Redox-Responsive Core-Cross-Linked Block Copolymer Micelles for Overcoming Multidrug Resistance in Cancer Cells.

Success of chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer has been often inhibited by multidrug resistance (MDR) of the cancer cells. There is a clear need to generate strategies to overcome this resistance. In this work, we have developed redox-responsive and core-cross-linked micellar nanocarriers using poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl 5-(1,2-dithiolan-3-yl)pentanoate) diblock copolymers (PEG-b-PLAHEMA) with tunable swelling properties for the delivery of drugs toward drug-sensitive MDA-MB-231 and drug-resistant MDA-MB-231 (231R) cancer cells.