Multifunctional polymer nanoparticles for dual drug release and cancer cell targeting

Multifunctional polymer nanoparticles have been developed for cancer treatment becausethey could be easily designed to target cancer cells and to enhance therapeutic efficacy accordingto cancer hallmarks. In this study, we synthesized a pH-sensitive polymer, poly(methacrylicacid-co-histidine/doxorubicin/biotin) (HBD) in which doxorubicin (DOX) was conjugated bya hydrazone bond to encapsulate an immunotherapy drug, imiquimod (IMQ), to form dualcancer-targeting and dual drug-loaded nanoparticles. At low pH, polymeric nanoparticles coulddisrupt and simultaneously release DOX and IMQ. Our experimental results show that thenanoparticles exhibited pH-dependent drug release behavior and had an ability to target cancer cellsvia biotin and protonated histidine.