Core-thermoresponsive shell polymeric nanoparticles loaded with imaging and therapeutic agents for biomedical applications

Abstract

The results on design, synthesis, characterization and biomedical applications of core-thermoresponsive shell polymeric nanoparticles (CTS-PNPs) loaded with imaging and therapeutic agents will be presented. In CTS-PNPs, the polystyrene core (~30 nm) is coated with the shell of poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) or co-polymer of NIPAM and acrylamide (AA). The shell "shrinks" in water at the temperatures higher than lower critical solution temperature, which can be tuned through co-polymerization of NIPAM with AA, and affects photophysics of the embedded fluorophores. This phenomenon has been employed by us in fluorescence imaging and photodynamic therapy of cancer using CTS-PNPs loaded with fluorescent dyes and photosensitizers.