End Group Dye-labeled Polycarbonate Block Copolymers for Micellar (immuno-)Drug Delivery.

作者：C. Czysch, Carolina Medina-Montano, N. K. Dal, Thi Dinh, Yannick Fröder, Pia Winterwerber, Konrad Maxeiner, H. Räder, D. Schuppan, H. Schild, Matthias Bros, Bernhard Biersack, Federico Feranoli, S. Grabbe, L. Nuhn · 发表于：Macromolecular rapid communications · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1002/marc.202200095 · 被引用次数：18 · 研究领域：Medicine

Defined conjugation of functional molecules to block copolymer end groups is a powerful strategy to enhance the scope of micellar carriers for drug delivery. In this study, we have established an approach to access well-defined polycarbonate-based block copolymers by labeling their end groups with single fluorescent dye molecules. Following controlled polymerization conditions, the block copolymers' primary hydroxy end group can be converted into activated pentafluorophenyl ester carbonates and subsequently aminolyzed with fluorescent dyes that are equipped with primary amines. During a solvent evaporation process, the resulting end group dye-labeled block copolymers self-assemble into narrowly dispersed 26 nm sized micelles and simultaneously encapsulate hydrophobic (immuno-)drugs. The covalently attached fluorescent tracer can be used to monitor both uptake into cells and stability under biologically relevant conditions, including incubation with blood plasma or during blood circulation in zebrafish embryos. By encapsulation of the TLR7/8 agonist CL075, immune stimulatory polymeric micelles are generated that get internalized by various antigen presenting dendritic cells and promote their maturation. Generally, such end group dye-labeled polycarbonate block copolymers display ideal features to permit targeted delivery of hydrophobic drugs to key immune cells for vaccination and cancer immunotherapy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.