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The preparation and characterization of micelles from poly(γ-glutamic acid)-graft-poly(l-lactide) and the cellular uptake thereof

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Abstract

Chemotherapy is a traditional therapeutic approach for the treatment of many solid tumors, but the poor solubility and low bioavailability of hydrophobic anti-cancer drugs greatly limit their applications. In this article, DOX-loaded micelles were fabricated based on an amphiphilic graft polymer composed of hydrophilic poly(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) and hydrophobic poly (l-lactide) (PLLA). The structure of the copolymers and the characteristic of the micelles were studied. The release profiles of doxorubicin as a model drug from the micelles were measured. Due to the protonation of the amino group of DOX and the conformational alteration of γ-PGA, the release of DOX from γ-PGA-g-PLLA micelle was faster in the acid condition, which is beneficial to tumor therapy. The cellular uptake of the DOX-loaded γ-PGA-g-PLLA micelle was proved to be a GGT-mediated process.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51373130, 21004080), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in Universities (Grant No. NCET-09-0818) of the Ministry of Education of China, the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2011A060901013), the Guangdong Innovative Research Team Program (Grant No. 2009010057), and the Program for Industry, University & Research Institute Collaboration of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2012B091100452).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, China

    Meiqing Liu, Yingying Cong & Yihua Yin

  2. School of Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China

    Gang Huang, Guoquan Tong, Zhanqiu Lin & Chao Zhang

  3. Guangdong Province Key Laboratary of Sensor Technology and Biomedical Instrument, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China

    Chao Zhang

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  1. Meiqing Liu
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  2. Gang Huang
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  3. Yingying Cong
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  4. Guoquan Tong
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  5. Zhanqiu Lin
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  6. Yihua Yin
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Correspondence to Yihua Yin or Chao Zhang.

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Liu, M., Huang, G., Cong, Y. et al. The preparation and characterization of micelles from poly(γ-glutamic acid)-graft-poly(l-lactide) and the cellular uptake thereof. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 26, 187 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-015-5519-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-015-5519-y

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