pH-Responsive supramolecular micelle based on host-guest interaction of poly(β-amino ester) derivatives and adamantyl-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) for cancer inhibition

Supramolecular structures have received growing attention and been widely applied in many fields. Herein, we synthesized hydrophobic β-cyclodextrin-contained poly(β-amino ester) (PAE-β-CD) and hydrophilic adamantyl-terminated poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG-AD) to form a supramolecular micelle via the host-guest interaction. The micelle displayed pH responsive structure change due to the transform of hydrophobic PAE core to hydrophilic form in weakly acid condition. After the anticancer drug curcumin (Cur) was loaded into the micelle, the drug release behavior of the Cur-loaded micelle was studied, and it turned out that the Cur-loaded supramolecular micelle could effectively unload the drug at pH 5.5. Furthermore, the antitumor efficiency of the Cur-loaded micelle was also examined both in vitro and in vivo, indicating considerable inhibition ratio as high as 62.14% against mouse sarcoma 180.