Polymeric micelles based on hyaluronic acid and phospholipids: Design, characterization, and cytotoxicity

Novel amphiphilic copolymers were synthesized and characterized by 1 H NMR using Hyaluronic acid (HA) as a hydrophilic part and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) including 1,2‐dimiristoyl‐sn‐glycerol‐3‐phosphatidylethanolamine (DMPE) and 1,2‐distearoyl‐sn‐glycerol‐3‐phosphatidylethanolamine (DSPE) as a hydrophobic segment. The newly developed HA‐PE copolymers form a micelle in an aqueous media. The micellar properties, including critical micelle concentration (CMC) with pyrene as a fluorescence probe and micelle morphology, using transmission electron microscopy were assessed. It was found that the CMC values for HA‐DMPE and HA‐DSPE were 15.5 and 13.4 μg/mL, respectively. Also micelles were spherical in shape and within the size range of 162–214 nm. The solubility of cholesterol, a highly hydrophobic compound, was enhanced to 0.25 mg/mL which is much higher than it is in water (0.0001 mg/mL). In vitro cytotoxicity assay of HA‐PE copolymers showed no toxicity on human breast cancer cell line (MCF‐7). These results suggest that HA‐PE micelles could be considered as a promising carrier for delivery of hydrophobic compounds. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 40944.