Polymeric prodrug by supramolecular polymerization

Cancer has become a major public health problem, and chemotherapy is one of the main methods for treating cancer. However, traditional anticancer drugs have shortcomings such as poor selectivity, short half-life, and large toxic side effects. Recently, polymeric prodrugs with therapeutic moieties covalently bonding to polymers have attracted considerable interests in anticancer field, which can self-assemble into nanodrugs with improved the durability, targeting and bioavailability comparing to traditional anticancer drugs. Nevertheless, the chemical composition of polymeric prodrugs is complex due to the polydispersity of a polymer, which greatly limits their clinical translation. In order to obtain polymeric prodrugs with accurate chemical composition, we designed and synthesized an amphiphilic supramolecular polymeric prodrug based on host-guest interaction, which can self-assemble into nano-sized micelles in aqueous medium for anticancer chemotherapy. The novel supramolecular polymeric prodrug we report in this work can combine the general advantages of polymeric prodrug and small molecular prodrug, which should have a bright future in clinical chemotherapy.

Automated summary

Cancer is a major public health problem and chemotherapy is a main treatment method. However, traditional anticancer drugs have limitations such as poor selectivity, short half-life, and toxic side effects. Polymeric prodrugs with therapeutic moieties covalently bonding to polymers have gained interest due to their improved durability, targeting, and bioavailability. The complex chemical composition of polymeric prodrugs limits their clinical translation. An amphiphilic supramolecular polymeric prodrug based on host-guest interaction was designed and synthesized to self-assemble into nano-sized micelles for aqueous-based anticancer chemotherapy. This novel supramolecular polymeric prodrug combines the advantages of polymeric and small molecule prodrugs, and has potential in clinical chemotherapy.