Synthesis of cyclodextrin-derived star poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)/poly(lactic-co-glycolide) supramolecular micelles via host-guest interaction for delivery of doxorubicin

Abstract Supramolecular micelles are of particular interest in cancer therapy, owing to their capability to enable the on-demand drug release in tumor microenvironments. Nano platforms of supramolecular micelles can be facilely achieved from β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) based polymers. Herein, we developed novel supramolecular micelles of β-CD-(PNVP)4-AD-PLGA produced from β-CD-grafted star poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (β-CD-(PNVP)4) and adamantine-terminated linear-poly(lactic-co-glycolide) (AD-PLGA) by host-guest interaction between β-cyclodextrin and adamantine groups. A model anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX) was loaded into the supramolecular micelles during self-assembly in aqueous solution. The dissociation of the supramolecular micelles was triggered by acidic environments, which led to the release of DOX more in pH 6.4 compared to pH 7.4. The in vitro toxicity of the drug loaded micelles revealed 87% of cytotoxicity after 72 h against glioblastoma (C6 cells) while β-CD-(PNVP)4-AD-PLGA was biocompatible to HEK 293 cells (non-cancerous). Furthermore, β-CD-(PNVP)4-AD-PLGA and β-CD-(PNVP)4-AD-PLGA/DOX were found to be hemocompatible and more suitable for Intravenous administration. Our results suggest that the developed micelle system can provide a promising robust and sustained anticancer drug delivery system for the future cancer treatment.