Polyphosphoester containing amphiphilic block copolymers as drug nanocarriers

The design of drug delivery systems often requires biodegradable and biocompatible materials that allow safe retention and controlled release of the drug. In this respect, supramolecularly self-assembled amphiphilic block copolymers into spherical micelles are appropriate carriers for poorly soluble drugs. In that framework, we have designed novel functional poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polyphosphoester amphiphilic block copolymers able to cross-linked under UV and degrade in response to a reduction of the pH from neutral conditions. Therefore, an unsaturated alkene side-chain was introduced on the cyclic phosphate monomer according to a one-step reaction followed by its organocatalyzed polymerization initiated by a poly(ethylene oxide) macroinitiator. After self-assembly into water, the micelles were cross-linked by UV irradiation. Then, these cross-linked micelles have been loaded by doxorubicin, i.e. a drug used in cancer therapy. We observed that the doxorubicin loading increased with the number of double bonds on the polyphosphate block of non-cross-linked micelles. This diblock amphiphilic copolymer bearing pendant unsaturations appears thus particularly promising candidate to build micellar drug delivery systems for intravenous injection.