Lipid-DNAs as Solubilizers of mTHPC

Hydrophobic drug candidates require innovative formulation agents. We designed and synthesized lipid-DNA polymers containing varying numbers of hydrophobic alkyl chains. The hydrophobicity of these amphiphiles is easily tunable by introducing a defined number of alkyl chain-modified nucleotides during standard solid-phase synthesis of DNA using an automated DNA synthesizer. We observed that the resulting self-assembled micelles solubilize the poorly water-soluble drug, meta-tetra-hydroxyphenyl-chlorin (mTHPC) used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) with high loading concentrations and loading capacities. A cell viability study showed that mTHPC-loaded micelles exhibit good biocompatibility without irradiation, and high PDT efficacy upon irradiation. Lipid-DNAs provide a novel class of drug-delivery vehicle, and hybridization of DNA offers a potentially facile route for further functionalization of the drug-delivery system with, for instance, targeting or imaging moieties.