Assembly of catechol-modified polymer brushes for drug delivery

Therapeutic nanoparticles (NPs) have shown their potential for biomedical applications ( e.g. , drug delivery). In this study, we report the synthesis of a bottlebrush block copolymer by ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and fabrication of pH-responsive NPs (denoted as BNPs) by self-assembly of an innovative bortezomib (BTZ) prodrug. The cleavage of borate ester bonds at acidic pH results in the release of BTZ from BNPs. Moreover, BNPs can inhibit cell and tumor growth without significant side effects. The anticancer drug of Bortezomib conjugated onto catechol-modified bottlebrush block copolymers can be intracellularly released owing to the pH-responsive behavior, resulting in considerable cell death and tumor growth inhibition.