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

Feixiong Hu; Koon Gee Neoh; En-Tang Kang

doi:10.1002/marc.200800771

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

Macromol Rapid Commun. 2009 Apr 20;30(8):609-14. doi: 10.1002/marc.200800771. Epub 2009 Mar 2.

Authors

Feixiong Hu¹, Koon Gee Neoh, En-Tang Kang

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge, 119260, Singapore.

PMID: 21706648
DOI: 10.1002/marc.200800771

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.