Synthesis of a biodegradable branched copolymer mPEG-b-PLGA-g-OCol and its pH-sensitive micelle

An amphiphilic biodegradable branched copolymer, mPEG-b-PLGA-g-OCol, was synthesized by grafting copolymer (methoxy polyethylene glycol)-b-Poly (l,d-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (mPEG-b-PLGA) on oligomeric collagen (OCol), to form a branched structure with mPEG-b-PLGA as side chain and OCol as backbone. mPEG-b-PLGA and mPEG-b-PLGA-g-OCol were both amphipathic and can self-assemble into micelles in aqueous solution. The mPEG-b-PLGA-g-OCol micelles showed pH-sensitive behaviors and the particle size below 100 nm in slightly acidic environment such as tumor tissue milieu interieur to perform passive targeting. Observed by SEM, when the solution pH increased from 5 to 9, the morphology of mPEG-b-PLGA-g-OCol micelles changed from small spheres to larger ones to rings. For biodegradable mPEG-b-PLGA-g-OCol, the micelles will gradually degrade in body. Further, doxorubicin (DOX) was effectively loaded in the micelles with drug loading and encapsulation efficiency of 3.48% and 25.8%, respectively. To evaluate antineoplastic effect of DOX-laden micelles in vitro, MTT test, flow cytometry and CLSM were performed and found that DOX-laden micelles exhibited higher cellular proliferation inhibition against HeLa cells. These features indicated that the mPEG-b-PLGA-g-OCol micelles were potential drug carrier for cancer therapy.