Nanoparticles made of poly(gama-glutamic acid) derivatives for drug delivery systems

Abstract

One of the treatments for cancer is chemotherapy but most anticancer drugs have a low therapeutic index, which causes toxicity complications in the healthy tissues [1]. To minimize these complications and improve the effect of the existing drugs, drug delivery by nanoparticles have drawn more attention as they are easy to produce and can also be prepared through biocompatible polymers [2]. Here, we report the preparation of polymer nanoparticles derived from esters of poly(¿-glutamic acid) which could be able to encapsulate hydrophobic drugs that can be used as drug delivery systems (DDS) for the treatment of different tumours. In this work, PGGA has been modified in order to improve its solubility in organic solvents and its processing capacity of this water-soluble polymer. Due to the fact that most of the anticancer drugs are lipophilic, the hydrophobic modification of PGGA will enhance the drug encapsulation.