Synthesis of temperature/pH dual-sensitive supramolecular micelles from β-cyclodextrin-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) star polymer for drug delivery

Abstract In this paper, temperature and pH dual-sensitive supramolecular micelles were constructed from star polymer β-cyclodextrin-poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) (β-CD-PNIPAM) and benzimidazole terminated poly(e-caprolactone) (BM-PCL). The supramolecular micelles were formed based on the reversible host-guest recognition between β-CD and BM. The size of supramolecular micelles was about 50–100 nm and the LCST was about 30.5 ℃. The drug loading efficiency of supramolecular micelles for DOX was high due to the hydrophobic micelles core of PCL and hydrophobic cavity of β-CD. The release of drugs from supramolecular micelles was suppressed at neutral solution and room temperature but accelerated at acidic solution and 37 ℃. The drug loaded supramolecular micelles exhibited higher anti-cancer activity than free drugs. These temperature and pH dual-sensitive supramolecular micelles might possess potential applications for anticancer drug delivery.