Thiol-ene Reaction: An Efficient Tool to Design Lipophilic Polyphosphoesters for Drug Delivery Systems

oleh: Stéphanie Vanslambrouck, Raphaël Riva, Bernard Ucakar, Véronique Préat, Mick Gagliardi, Daniel G. M. Molin, Philippe Lecomte, Christine Jérôme

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-03-01

Deskripsi

Poly(ethylene glycol)-<i>b</i>-polyphosphoester (PEG-<i>b</i>-PPE) block copolymer nanoparticles are promising carriers for poorly water soluble drugs. To enhance the drug loading capacity and efficiency of such micelles, a strategy was investigated for increasing the lipophilicity of the PPE block of these PEG-<i>b</i>-PPE amphiphilic copolymers. A PEG-<i>b</i>-PPE copolymer bearing pendant vinyl groups along the PPE block was synthesized and then modified by thiol-ene click reaction with thiols bearing either a long linear alkyl chain (dodecyl) or a tocopherol moiety. Ketoconazole was used as model for hydrophobic drugs. Comparison of the drug loading with PEG-<i>b</i>-PPE bearing shorter pendant groups is reported evidencing the key role of the structure of the pendant group on the PPE backbone. Finally, a first evidence of the biocompatibility of these novel PEG-<i>b</i>-PPE copolymers was achieved by performing cytotoxicity tests. The PEG-<i>b</i>-PPE derived by tocopherol was evidenced as particularly promising as delivery system of poorly water-soluble drugs.