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Preparation and Characterization of Lipophilic Doxorubicin Pro-drug Micelles
Published on: August 2, 2016
Furoxan-Bearing Micelles for Nitric Oxide Delivery
Urara Hasegawa1, Tengjiao Wang2, Jerry J Y Chen2
1Frontier Research Base for Young Researchers and Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
Abstract:
Furoxans, or 1,2,5-oxadiazole-N-oxides, are a class of nitric oxide (NO)-donating compounds that release NO in response to thiol-containing molecules. In this study, polymeric micelles bearing furoxan moieties are prepared from an amphiphilic block copolymer consisting of a hydrophobic furoxan-bearing block and a hydrophilic poly(N-acryloylmorpholine) block. The block copolymer is prepared using a combination of the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization and the copper-catalyzed Huisgen cycloaddition techniques. The block copolymers form spherical micelles with a diameter of 50 nm by self-assembly in water. The micelles release NO in response to cysteine and show improved stability against hydrolytic decomposition. Furthermore, the micelles show a synergistic anti-proliferative effect with ibuprofen in human colon cancer cells.
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