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Redox-responsive molecular gels based on camptothecin prodrug with disulfide linkage for controlled and sustained drug release

  • Published:
Wuhan University Journal of Natural Sciences

Abstract

A novel camptothecin (CPT) prodrug was successfully synthesized by conjugating CPT to adamantanecarboxylic acid (AD) via a cleavable disulfide linkage. The resulting CPT-ss-AD prodrug could act as a low molecular weight gelator to form molecular gels in water/water-miscible organic solvent mixture. Meanwhile, biodegradable amphiphilic block copolymer mPEG-b-P (MAC-co-DTC) (PPMD) was also employed as an organic framework together with CPT-ss-AD to form gel structure. CPT-ss-AD/PPMD gel exhibited less compact molecular arrangement but much more stability than CPT-ss-AD gel. The two kinds of gels could effectively release the original CPT under reductive condition at a near-constant rate without any initial burst. As compared to CPT-ss-AD single-component gel, the two-component gel, CPT-ss-AD/PPMD, had a significantly higher release rate of CPT, while 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays also indicated highly potent cytotoxic activity against HeLa cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Molecular Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China

    Xiupeng Chang, Youmei Li, Shu Chen, Feng He & Renxi Zhuo

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  1. Xiupeng Chang
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  2. Youmei Li
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  3. Shu Chen
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  4. Feng He
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  5. Renxi Zhuo
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Correspondence to Feng He.

Additional information

Foundation item: Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China (2014CFB696), the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education at Wuhan University (20150102), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21074098)

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Chang, X., Li, Y., Chen, S. et al. Redox-responsive molecular gels based on camptothecin prodrug with disulfide linkage for controlled and sustained drug release. Wuhan Univ. J. Nat. Sci. 22, 411–419 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11859-017-1266-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11859-017-1266-x

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