Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, China.
Biomater Sci. 2019 Apr 23;7(5):2134-2143. doi: 10.1039/c8bm01672k.
Smart micelles which undergo dramatic property changes in response to temperature have aroused extensive interest in specific cancer therapy. To date, studies on thermosensitive polymers have mainly focused on lower critical solution temperature (LCST) polymers. Materials with upper critical solution temperature (UCST) which can swell and disassemble at elevated temperatures have much less been documented, although they have been reported to be ideal carriers for quick and complete drug release upon applying a stimulus. Here, magnetic micelles with UCST are developed for doxorubicin (DOX) delivery. Hydrophobic Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles with a particle size of 8 nm are fabricated and enveloped in an amphiphilic polymer, poly(AAm-co-AN)-g-PEG (PAAP), to form UCST micelles (Fe3O4@PAAP). The resulting micelles exhibit excellent photothermal effects and burst drug release in response to near infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. The in vitro and in vivo antitumor experiments indicate that DOX-Fe3O4@PAAP micelles can significantly enhance the therapeutic effect upon NIR light irradiation. A novel thermosensitive platform is thus offered for in situ drug release and combined photothermal-chemotherapy, holding a favorable prospect for cancer therapy.
智能胶束对温度的剧烈变化会产生显著的响应，这引起了人们对特定癌症治疗的广泛兴趣。迄今为止，对温敏聚合物的研究主要集中在低临界溶液温度（LCST）聚合物上。具有上临界溶液温度（UCST）的材料在升高温度时会发生溶胀和分解，但目前对其的研究较少，尽管据报道，它们是在施加刺激时快速、完全释放药物的理想载体。在这里，开发了具有 UCST 的磁性胶束用于阿霉素（DOX）递送。制备了粒径为 8nm 的疏水性 Fe3O4 磁性纳米颗粒，并将其包裹在两亲性聚合物聚（AAm-co-AN）-g-PEG（PAAP）中，形成 UCST 胶束（Fe3O4@PAAP）。所得胶束表现出优异的光热效应，并在近红外（NIR）激光照射下发生爆发式药物释放。体外和体内抗肿瘤实验表明，DOX-Fe3O4@PAAP 胶束在近红外光照射下能显著增强治疗效果。因此，提供了一种新型的热敏平台，用于原位药物释放和联合光热化疗，为癌症治疗带来了良好的前景。
