title: Thermosensitive P(NIPAAm-co-PAAc-co-HEMA) nanogels conjugated with transferrin for tumor cell targeting delivery.
abstract: Multifunctional and thermosensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-propyl acrylic acid-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (P(NIPAAm-co-PAAc-co-HEMA)) nanogels were prepared by miniemulsion polymerization. The mean sizes of the nanogels measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS) varied from 120 to 400 nm with an increase in temperature. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the nanogels displayed well-dispersed spherical morphology. The nanogels were conjugated by human transferrin (Tf) and the coupling of transferrin molecules with nanogels was verified by UV-vis spectroscopy. The cytotoxicity study indicated that the nanogels did not exhibit apparent cytotoxicity. Fluorescence spectroscopy analysis as well as confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was used to confirm that the Tf-conjugated nanogels could specifically bind to A549 tumor cells. In addition, the Tf-conjugated nanogels loaded with Doxorubicin (Dox) could efficiently release the drug inside the cell, suggesting that the Tf-conjugated nanogels are useful drug carriers for tumor cell targeting.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education and Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chang-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.forename: Yun-Xia
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Si-Xue
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Xian-Zheng
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ren-Xi
authors.initials: RX
authors.lastname: Zhuo