Nam Muk Oh

A self-organized 3-diethylaminopropyl-bearing glycol chitosan nanogel for tumor acidic pH targeting: in vitro evaluation.

In this study, a novel pH-responsive nanogel composed of glycol chitosan (GCS) grafted with functional 3-diethylaminopropyl (DEAP) groups (denoted as GCS-g-DEAP hereafter) was fabricated. The GCS-g-DEAP was designed to have a self-assembled arrangement consisting of hydrophilic block (GCS) and hydrophobic block (DEAP) at physiological pH. As the pH decreased to tumor extracellular pH (pH(e)), the nanogel was destabilized due to the protonation of DEAP. The pH-responsive property of the nanogel at tumor extracellular pH (pH(e)) was characterized in drug-release kinetic studies. The release of doxorubicin (DOX) from DOX-loaded nanogels was significantly accelerated at lower pH values, which allowed for increased DOX uptake by non-small lung carcinoma A546 cells under a slightly acidic pH condition, as in tumor pH(e).

Electrostatic charge conversion processes in engineered tumor-identifying polypeptides for targeted chemotherapy.

One of the current challenges in cancer chemotherapy is the ultra-sensitive identification of in vivo tumors. Herein, we report a new class of tumor-identifying polypeptides that can home in on in vivo tumors via an electrostatic charge conversion process occurring in the acidic milieu of a verity of tumors, which can be distinguished from receptor-interacting conventional tumor-homing peptides. We exploit the chemical coupling between polypeptides and therapeutic objects (drugs or particles) to carry out an antitumor study in nude mice, and find a significant increase in the efficiency of polypeptide-tagged objects in tumor uptake and inhibition, which is more significant than any known tumor-homing peptide system thus far developed.

Poly(L-aspartic acid) nanogels for lysosome-selective antitumor drug delivery.

Advanced materials that have controllable pH-responsive properties when submerged in the lysosome have a great potential in intracellular drug delivery. We developed novel poly(L-amino acid) nanogels that were prepared by a facile cross-linking of poly[L-aspartic acid-g-(3-diethylaminopropyl)]-b-poly(ethylene glycol)-maleimide [poly(L-Asp-g-DEAP)-b-PEG-Mal] and poly(L-aspartic acid-g-ethyl thiol)-b-PEG [poly(L-Asp-SH)-b-PEG] in an oil/water emulsion condition. Interestingly, these nanogels (~125 nm in diameter) modulated volume expansion (~375 nm in diameter) in a lysosomal pH (~pH 5.0) due to an extensive proton absorption of DEAP at a low pH, which mediated lysosome swelling and the subsequent lysosome destabilization. In the in vitro tumor cell cytotoxicity test, they encouraged tumor cell death, probably owing to the leakage of lysosomal enzymes. Furthermore, encapsulating antitumor drug (e.g., doxorubicin, DOX) into these nanogels enhanced tumor cell cytotoxicity. We conclude that this nanogel system will have great potential for tumor therapy.

Photodynamic therapy using glycol chitosan grafted fullerenes.

Glycol chitosan (GC)-grafted fullerene (GC-g-C(60)) conjugates were developed for use in photodynamic therapy of tumor cells. GC-g-C(60) was synthesized in anhydrous benzene/dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) co-solvent via the chemical conjugation of free amine groups of GC to CC double bonds of C(60). The GC-g-C(60) with 5×10(-4) C(60) molecules per one repeating unit of GC was soluble in water. As C(60) molecules conjugated to GC increased to 0.16 molecules per one repeating unit of GC, GC-g-C(60) started to form supramolecular assemblies (∼30 nm) stabilized in phosphate buffer saline (PBS, 150 mM, pH 7.4). Upon 670 nm light illumination, photo-responsive properties of GC-g-C(60) allowed tremendous singlet oxygen generation in tumor cells for super phototoxicity. GC-g-C(60) also showed highly increased tumor accumulation ability for in vivo tumor of KB tumor-bearing nude mice. It is expected that our GC-g-C(60) conjugate may be a good candidate for in vivo photodynamic therapy in various malignant tumor cells.

Antioxidant encapsulated porous poly(lactide-co-glycolide) microparticles for developing long acting inhalation system

The purpose of this study was to fabricate porous poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microparticles for efficient pulmonary deposition and increased therapeutic duration of the antioxidant anthocyanin (ATH). These microparticles were prepared by a water-in-oil-in-water (W(1)/O/W(2)) multi-emulsion method with vaporizing ammonium bicarbonate (AB) as a porogen and starch as a viscous additive. High porosity achieved by the decomposition reaction of AB to the base of ammonia, carbon dioxide, and water vapor at 50°C enabled efficient deposition of ATH throughout the entire lung in BALB/c mice. In addition, the porous microparticles incorporating starch showed sustained ATH release characteristics (up to 5 days) and protracted antioxidant activity (up to 5 days) for 2,2-diphenyl-1-pikryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radicals, which was comparable to that of the porous microparticles without starch which completely released ATH in 2h. Furthermore, these porous microparticles incorporating starch led to longer ATH residence (up to 20 days) in in vivo lung epithelium. We believe that this system has great pharmaceutical potential as a long-acting antioxidant for continuously relieving oxidative stress in pulmonary diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Multifunctional poly (lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles for luminescence/magnetic resonance imaging and photodynamic therapy

Poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) coupled with methoxy poly (ethylene glycol) (mPEG) or chlorin e6 (Ce6) was synthesized using the Steglich esterification method. PLGA-linked mPEG (PLGA-mPEG), PLGA-linked Ce6 (PLGA-Ce6), and Fe(3)O(4) were utilized to constitute multifunctional PLGA nanoparticles (∼160 nm) via the multi-emulsion W(1)/O/W(2) (water-in-oil-in-water) method. The photo-sensitizing properties of Ce6 molecules anchored to PLGA nanoparticles enabled in vivo luminescence imaging and photodynamic therapy for the tumor site. The encapsulation of Fe(3)O(4) allowed high contrast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the tumor in vivo. Overall, PLGA nanoparticles resulted in a significant tumor volume regression for the light-illuminated KB tumor in vivo and enhanced the contrast at the tumor region, compared to that of Feridex(®) (commercial contrast agent).

3-Diethylaminopropyl-bearing glycol chitosan as a protein drug carrier.

Polysaccharidic nanogels were fabricated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and a glycol chitosan (GCS) grafted with functional 3-diethylaminopropyl (DEAP) groups. These nanogels were investigated to evaluate their cellular uptake in HeLa cells and in vivo fate in nude mice tumor model. Unlike free BSA, GCS-g-DEAP/BSA nanogels improved cellular uptake of BSA. Furthermore, this system led to an enhanced blood circulation and a high accumulation of BSA in the tumor site. Our collective results strongly support that GCS-g-DEAP/BSA nanogel is a potential carrier system for high molecular weight proteins.

Development of pH-responsive poly(γ-cyclodextrin) derivative nanoparticles.

In this study, we report a novel pH-responsive nanoparticle composed of poly(γ-cyclodextrin) [poly(γCD)] conjugated with functional 3-diethylaminopropyl (DEAP) groups [poly(γCD-DEAP)]. The design of the nanoparticle takes advantage of the biocompatible functional poly(γCD) as the backbone polymer and the unique pH-responsive feature of DEAP as either a hydrophobic moiety (non-ionic DEAP) at pH 7.4 or a hydrophilic moiety (ionic DEAP) at acidic pH. Poly(γCD) was coupled with DEAP and utilized for fabricating pH-responsive nanoparticles for antitumor drug (doxorubicin: DOX) delivery. The experimental results reveal that the poly(γCD-DEAP) nanoparticles increased the release of the encapsulated DOX content when the pH of the solution was decreased to 6.0. This event caused significant increases in the efficiency of cellular DOX uptake and in vitro tumor inhibition. Furthermore, these nanoparticles allow the encapsulation of multiple antitumor drugs into the nanoparticles [utilizing the hydrophobic interactions (between non-ionic DEAP moieties and drugs) and inclusive interactions (between poly(γCD)s and drugs)], thereby suggesting their potential for use in drug combination therapy.

Poly(l-aspartic acid) derivative soluble in a volatile organic solvent for biomedical application

In order to develop a novel functional poly(L-amino acid) that can dissolve in volatile organic solvents, we prepared poly[L-aspartic acid-g-(3-diethylaminopropyl)]-b-poly(ethylene glycol) [poly(L-Asp-g-DEAP)-b-PEG] via the conjugation of 3-diethylaminopropyl (DEAP) to carboxylate groups of poly(L-Asp) (M(n) 4 K)-b-PEG (M(n) 2 K). This poly(L-aspartic acid) derivative evidenced a relatively high solubility in volatile organic solvents such as dichloromethane, chloroform, and acetone. We fabricated a model nanostructure (i.e., polymeric micelle) using poly(L-Asp-g-DEAP)-b-PEG by the film rehydration method, which involves the simple removal of the volatile organic solvent (dichloromethane) used to dissolve polymer, reducing concerns about organic solvents remaining in a nano-sized particle. Interestingly, this micelle showed the pH-stimulated release of encapsulated model drug [i.e., doxorubicin (DOX)] due to the protonation of DEAP according to the pH of the solution. We expect that this poly(L-aspartic acid) derivative promises to provide pharmaceutical potential for constituting a new stimuli-sensitive drug carrier for various drug molecules.

Facile Synthesis of Multimeric Micelles

Bringing it all together: Synthesis of a dimeric micelle (see scheme) is shown to produce specifically linked Janus-like micelles. The reaction conditions for dimeric micelle formation were optimized and the resulting micelles characterized. Trimeric, tetrameric, and multimeric micelles were also synthesized using the same technique.