A research team led by Kit S. Lam from UC Davis has synthesized a novel class of nanoparticles to eliminate premature release of drugs, paving the way to deliver anti-cancer drugs to tumor sites accurately and efficiently.
Kit S. Lam
The nanoparticles are special type of micelles termed as dual-responsive boronate cross-linked micelles (BCMs) that generates physicochemical changes to certain triggers. A micelle is a cluster of surfactant molecules dispensed in aqueous solutions such as saline. The nano-sized micelle can be used as a nanocarrier for delivering drugs.
BCMs as nanocarriers are capable of releasing the payload when stimulated by the tumor’s acidic micro-environment or during its exposure to an intravenously managed chemical compound like mannitol.
According to the research team, BCMs are smarter when compared to stimuli-responsive cross-linked micelles, which are nanoparticles used as nanocarrier systems for target-specific drug delivery. Since BCMs can respond to many stimuli, they can be used as tools for achieving the multi-phase delivery of medicines to the complicated in vivotumor micro-environment.
BCMs release medicines based on the self-assembly of catechol-containing polymers and boronic acid-containing polymers, as both these polymers increase the sensitivity of BCMs to pH changes of the environment. The team has improved the stimuli-response of BCMs to mannitol and acidic pH and has also optimized their stability.
BCMs are capable of delivering the medicines on demand inside the acidic micro-environment of tumors or even within the acidic cellular compartments when absorbed by the target cancer cells. It can also be triggered to discharge the medicine via the intravenously administered mannitol.