Computer Simulations on a pH-Responsive Anticancer Drug Delivery System Using Zwitterion-Grafted Polyamidoamine Dendrimer Unimolecular Micelles

Unimolecular micelles have attracted wide attention in the field of drug delivery because of their thermodynamic stability and uniform size distribution. However, their drug loading/release mechanisms at the molecular level have been poorly understood. In this work, the stability and drug loading/release behaviors of unimolecular micelles formed using generation-5 polyamidoamine-graft-poly­(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (PAMAM­(G5)-PCBMA) were studied by dissipative particle dynamics simulations. In addition, the unimolecular micelles formed using generation-5 polyamidoamine-graft-poly­(ethyleneglycol methacrylate) (PAMAM­(G5)-PEGMA) were used as a comparison. The simulation results showed that PAMAM­(G5)-PCBMA can spontaneously form core–shell unimolecular micelles. The PAMAM­(G5) dendrimer constitutes a hydrophobic core to load the doxorubicin (DOX), while the zwitterionic PCBMA serves as a protective shell to improve the stability of the unimolecular micelle. The DOX can be encapsulated into the cavity of PAMAM­(G5) at the physiological pH 7.4. The drug loading efficiency and drug loading content showed some regularities with the increase in the drug concentration. At the acidic pH 5.0, the loaded DOX can be released gradually from the hydrophobic core. The comparison of DOX-loaded morphologies between the PAMAM­(G5)-PCBMA system and PAMAM­(G5)-PEGMA system showed that the former has better monodisperse stability. This work could offer theoretical guidance for the design and development of promising unimolecular micelles for drug delivery.