Search

Inspired by upregulated levels of fucosylated proteins on the surfaces of multiple types of cancer cells, micelles carrying β-l-fucose and β-d-glucose were prepared. A range of block copolymers were synthesized by reacting a mixture of 2-azidoethyl β-l-fucopyranoside (FucEtN3) and 2-azideoethyl β-d-glucopyranoside (GlcEtN3) with poly(propargyl methacrylate)-block-poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PPMA-b-PBA) using copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). Five block copolymers were obtained ranging from 100 mol % fucose to 100% glucose functionalization. The resulting micelles had hydrodynamic diameters of around 30 nm. In this work, we show that fucosylated micelles reveal an increased uptake by pancreatic, lung, and ovarian carcinoma cell lines, whereas the uptake by the healthy cell lines (CHO) is negligible. This finding suggests that these micelles can be used for targeted drug delivery toward cancer cells.

A new sugar-substituted 2-oxazoline monomer was prepared using the copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction. Its copolymerization with 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline as well as 2-(dec-9-enyl)-2-oxazoline, yielding well-defined copolymers with the possibility to tune the properties by thiol-ene "click" reactions, is described. Extensive solubility studies on the corresponding glycocopolymers demonstrated that the lower critical solution temperature behavior and pH-responsiveness of these copolymers can be adjusted in water and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) depending on the choice of the thiol. By conjugation of 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-β-d-glucopyranose and subsequent deprotection of the sugar moieties, the hydrophilicity of the copolymer could be increased significantly, allowing a cloud-point tuning in the physiological range. Furthermore, the binding capability of the glycosylated copoly(2-oxazoline) to concanavalin A was investigated.

It is demonstrated that water-soluble, glucosylated poly(pentafluorostyrene) derivatives revealed favorable coating material properties for magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. To prepare the coating material in high reproducibility and purity as well as in sufficient amounts, a new route of synthesis is established. The preparation and characterization of the glucosylated, tetrafluorostyryl monomer, by thiol-para-fluorine "click" reaction, and its polymerization, via nitroxide-mediated radical process, is presented in detail. In addition, the coating material and the resulting particle properties are investigated by means of XPS, DLS, TGA, TEM, and cryo-TEM as well as flow cytometry. The glycopolymer acts as an appropriate stabilizing agent for the superparamagnetic nanoparticles by the formation of an approximately 10 nm thick shell, as shown by the XPS analysis. Furthermore, the application of FITC-labeled glycopolymer yielded fluorescent, superparamagnetic nanoparticles, which can be used for monitoring cell-carbohydrate interactions, because these particles show no cytotoxicity toward 3T3 fibroblasts.