Hyperbranched polycarbonate-based multimolecular micelle with enhanced stability and loading efficiency

Abstract

We herein develop a facile catalyst-free method to prepare hyperbranched hydroxyl-enriched aliphatic polycarbonate according to SCROP strategy. PEG-attached multiarm hyperbranched copolymer HEHDO-star-mPEG was further designed. It was found that HEHDO-star-mPEG can self-assemble into supramolecular multimolecular micelles in water. HEHDO-star-mPEG micelle showed excellent stability with respect to micellar size upon dilution, and displayed good cell-biocompatibility. An anticancer drug of doxorubicin with hydrogen-bonding functionality was incorporated into obtained micelles to establish a drug delivery system model. A high drug-loading content as well as sustained release pattern for HEHDO-star-mPEG based delivery system was achieved.