A multifunctional biodegradable brush polymer-drug conjugate for paclitaxel/gemcitabine co-delivery and tumor imaging.

ABSTRACT: A multifunctional biodegradable brush polymer-drug conjugate (BPDC) is developed for the co-delivery of hydrophobic paclitaxel (PTX) and hydrophilic gemcitabine (GEM) chemotherapeutics, as well as a tumor imaging agent. A novel ternary copolymer of conventional, acetylenyl-functionalized and allyl-functionalized lactides is prepared to serve as the backbone precursor of BPDC. Acetylenyl groups of the copolymer are then reacted with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) side chains and cyanine5.5, a fluorescent probe, via azide-alkyne click reactions. Subsequently, the allyl groups of the yielded PEG-grafted brush polymer are used to covalently link PTX and GEM onto the backbone via thiol-ene click reactions. The resulting BPDC exhibits an average hydrodynamic diameter of 111 nm. Sustai

SUBMITTER: Sun H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7451085 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature