Semitelechelic HPMA copolymers functionalized with triphenylphosphonium as drug carriers for membrane transduction and mitochondrial localization.

Semitelechelic HPMA (N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide) copolymers possessing a single terminal lipophilic triphenylphosphonium (TPP) cation and fluorescent labels were synthesized to determine how the attached cation affected cellular uptake and intracellular trafficking. In vitro mitochondrial uptake fluorescence quenching assays using isolated mouse liver mitochondria indicated that only lower molecular weight ( 5 kDa) semitelechelic copolymers, microinjected into cultured cells indicated that the TPP moiety did not significantly localize the polymers to mitochondria.