Triple Redox Responsive Poly(Ethylene Glycol)-Polycaprolactone Polymeric Nanocarriers for Fine-Controlled Drug Release

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive nanocarriers with the ability to respond to tumorous heterogeneity have been extensively developed for drug delivery. However, the premature release during blood circulation and insufficient intracellular drug release are still a significant issue. Herein, three disulfide bonds are introduced into the amphiphilic poly(ethylene glycol)-polycaprolactone copolymer blocks to form triple-sensitive cleavable polymeric nanocarrier (tri-PESC NPs) to improve its sensitivity to narrow glutathione (GSH) concentration. The tri-PESC NPs keep intact during blood circulation due to the limited cleaving of triple-disulfide bonds, whereas the loaded drug is efficiently released at tumor cells with the increased concentration of GSH. In vitro studies of doxorubicin-loaded tri-PESC NPs show that the nanocarriers achieve sufficient drug release in cancerous cells and inhibit the tumor cells growth, though they only bring minimum damage to normal cells. Therefore, the tri-PESC NPs with triple-sensitive cleavable bonds hold great promise to improve the therapeutic index in cancer therapy.

Keywords: poly(ethylene glycol)-polycaprolactone; stimuli-responsive drug delivery; triple-disulfide bond.