Synthesis of Folic Acid Functionalized PLLA-b-PPEGMA Nanoparticles for Cancer Cell Targeting

✍ Scribed by Feixiong Hu; Koon Gee Neoh; En-Tang Kang

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 359 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1022-1336
• DOI: 10.1002/marc.200800771

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Poly(L‐lactic acid)‐block‐poly(poly(ethylene glycol) monomethacrylate) (PLLA‐b‐PPEGMA) has been prepared by the ring‐opening polymerization of lactide with a double‐headed initiator, 2‐hydroxyethyl 2′‐methyl‐2′‐bromopropionate (HMBP), followed by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of poly(ethylene glycol) monomethacrylate (PEGMA). PLLA‐b‐PPEGMA nanoparticles with encapsulated Fe~3~O~4~ are prepared by a solvent evaporation/extraction technique, and then further functionalized with folic acid, a cancer targeting ligand. Our results show that such functionalized PLLA‐b‐PPEGMA nanoparticles have good potential as carriers for targeted drug delivery in cancer treatment.

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