In vitro evaluation of theranostic polymeric micelles for imaging and drug delivery in cancer

For the past decade engineered nanoplatforms have seen a momentous progress in developing a multimodal theranostic formulation which can be simultaneously used for imaging and therapy. In this report we describe the synthesis and application of theranostic phospholipid based polymeric micelles for optical fluorescence imaging and controlled drug delivery. CdSe quantum dots (QDs) and anti-cancer drug, doxorubicin (Dox), were co-encapsulated into the hydrophobic core of the micelles. The micelles are characterized using optical spectroscopy for characteristic absorbance and fluorescence features of QDs and Dox. TEM and DLS studies yielded a size of