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Finely Tuned Thermo‐Responsive Block Copolymer Micelles for Photothermal Effect‐Triggered Efficient Cellular Internalization
Author(s) -
Huang Mingming,
Li Hui,
Ke Wendong,
Li Junjie,
Zhao Chengai,
Ge Zhishen
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.201600119
Subject(s) - micelle , copolymer , nanocarriers , amphiphile , photothermal therapy , internalization , chemistry , photothermal effect , drug delivery , aqueous solution , materials science , chemical engineering , biophysics , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , polymer , cell , biochemistry , biology , engineering
Although biodegradable amphiphilic block copolymer micelles have been widely applied in the clinical applications as drug delivery nanocarriers, low‐efficiency cellular internalization frequently reduces therapeutic efficacy of the loaded drugs. Here, photothermal effect‐promoted cellular internalization of finely tuned thermo‐responsive amphiphilic biodegradable block copolymer nanocarriers via noninvasive stimuli of near‐infrared (NIR) light irradiation is demonstrated. Amphiphilic block copolymers, poly( ε ‐caprolactone)‐ block ‐poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide‐ co ‐ N , N ‐dimethylacrylamide) (PCL‐ b ‐P(NIPAM‐ co ‐DMA)), are prepared with finely tuned compositions of P(NIPAM‐ co ‐DMA) for desirable lower critical solution temperature of the block copolymer micelles in aqueous solution. The block copolymers are then used to co‐encapsulate doxorubicin and indocyanine green, which show high encapsulation efficiency and significant photothermal effect upon exposure to NIR light irradiation. The photothermal effect‐induced collapse and hydrophilic‐to‐hydrophobic transition of P(NIPAM‐ co ‐DMA) shells significantly enhance the interactions between drug‐loaded micelles and cell membranes, which dramatically promote the cellular internalization of the micelles and therapeutic efficacy of loaded anticancer drugs.