Micelles Based on Acid Degradable Poly(acetal urethane): Preparation, pH-Sensitivity, and Triggered Intracellular...

Polyurethanes are a unique class of biomaterials that are widely used in medical devices. In spite of their easy synthesis and excellent biocompatibility, polyurethanes are less explored for controlled drug delivery due to their slow or lack of degradation. In this paper, we report the design and development of novel acid degradable poly(acetal urethane) (PAU) and corresponding triblock copolymer micelles for pH-triggered intracellular delivery of a model lipophilic anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX). PAU with Mn ranging from 4.3 to 12.3 kg/mol was conveniently prepared from polycondensation reaction of lysine diisocyanate (LDI) and a novel diacetal-containing diol, terephthalilidene-bis(trimethylolethane) (TPABTME) using dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL) as a catalyst in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). The thiol-ene click reaction of Allyl-PAU-Allyl with thiolated PEG (Mn = 5.0 kg/mol) afforded PEG-PAU-PEG triblock copolymers that readily formed micelles with average sizes of about 90-120 nm in water. The dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements revealed fast swelling and disruption of micelles under acidic pH. UV/vis spectroscopy corroborated that acetal degradation was accelerated at pH 4.0 and 5.0. The in vitro release studies showed that doxorubicin (DOX) was released in a controlled and pH-dependent manner, in which ca. 96%, 73%, and 30% of drug was released within 48 h at pH 4.0, 5.0, and 7.4, respectively. Notably, MTT assays displayed that DOX-loaded PEG-PAU-PEG micelles had a high in vitro antitumor activity in both RAW 264.7 and drug-resistant MCF-7/ADR cells. The confocal microscopy and flow cytometry experiments demonstrated that PEG-PAU-PEG micelles mediated efficient cytoplasmic delivery of DOX. Importantly, blank PEG-PAU-PEG micelles were shown to be nontoxic to RAW 264.7 and MCF-7/ADR cells even at a high concentration of 1.5 mg/mL. Hence, micelles based on poly(acetal urethane) have appeared as a new class of biocompatible and acid-degradable nanocarriers for efficient intracellular drug delivery.