Preparation, co-assembling and interfacial crosslinking of photocurable and folate-conjugated amphiphilic block copolymers for controlled and targeted drug delivery: Smart armored nanocarriers

• Novel pH-sensitive copolymers based on (PCL/PEG) were synthesized.
• These copolymers were modified with folic acid and/or acryloyl chloride.
• Mixed micelles were formed by co-assembling of folated and acrylated-copolymers.
• Interfacial crosslinking of acrylated groups produce armored mixed nanogels.
• Drug release and degradation profiles of armored mixed nanogels were investigated.

Novel pH-sensitive, biodegradable and biocompatible copolymers based on polycaprolactone–poly(ethylene glycol) (PCL/PEG) were synthesized and further modified with folic acid and/or acryloyl chloride. The mixed polymeric micelles were formed by self-assembling of folated-copolymer and non-folated-copolymer with different compositions via nanoprecipitation method. The solubilization of quercetin as anti-cancer drug by the mixed micelle with the optimized composition (folated/non-folated 20/80) was more efficient than those made of each one alone. Nanogels with different crosslinking density were produced in the presence of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the crosslinker via a photochemical method. Interfacial crosslinking of acrylated groups were utilized to produce a core–shell spherical nanoparticle to evaluate their in-vitro drug release and degradation rate.

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