Interplay of stimuli-responsiveness, drug loading and release for a surface-engineered dendrimer delivery system

The objectives of this study were to generate novel thermo and pH dual responsive poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) via precise surface engineering, and investigate the interplay of dendrimer stimuli-responsiveness and the loading and release properties of a model agent, vitamin E acetate (VEAc). A higher dendrimer generation and maximized VEAc loading at elevated pH all contributed to a lower cloud point (CP) of the dendrimer-VEAc complex. The drug loading in G3.5 surface-engineered PAMAM was 22 mol/mol (pH 7.0) and 10 mol/mol (pH 5.0), which corresponded to a complex CP value at ca. 13 °C (pH 7.0) and 46 °C (pH 5.0), respectively. At physiological conditions, only less than 40% of VEAc was liberated when reaching the plateau, whilst more than 90% of VEAc was released from such system within 6 h at pH 5.0. This was due to the transition of dendrimer surface from dehydrated state to hydrated state upon pH dropping, enabling rapid drug release for therapeutic action. This smart stimuli-responsive dendritic delivery system holds promise for the efficient drug delivery to tissues with pH abnormality such as tumor.