Construction of Targeting-Clickable and Tumor-Cleavable Polyurethane Nanomicelles for Multifunctional Intracellular Drug Delivery

New strategies for the construction of versatile nanovehicles to overcome the multiple challenges of targeted delivery are urgently needed for cancer therapy. To address these needs, we developed a novel targeting-clickable and tumor-cleavable polyurethane nanomicelle for multifunctional delivery of antitumor drugs. The polyurethane was synthesized from biodegradable poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) and L-lysine ethyl ester diisocyanate (LDI), further extended by a new designed L-cystine-derivatized chain extender bearing a redox-responsive disulfide bond and clickable alkynyl groups (Cys-PA), and finally terminated by a detachable methoxyl-poly(ethylene glycol) with a highly pH-sensitive benzoic-imine linkage (BPEG). The obtained polymers show attractive self-assembly characteristics and stimuli-responsiveness, good cytocompatibility, and high loading capacity for doxorubicin (DOX). Furthermore, folic acid (FA) as a model targeting ligand was conjugated to the polyurethane micelles via an efficient click reaction. The decoration of FA results in an enhanced cellular uptake and improved drug efficacy toward FA-receptor positive HeLa cancer cells in vitro. As a proof-of-concept, this work provides a facile approach to the design of extracellularly activatable nanocarriers for tumor-targeted and programmed intracellular drug delivery.