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Abstract
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Combined therapy is a promising strategy for clinical cancer treatment with synergistic effects. The purpose of the work
reported was to evaluate a smart nanocarrier for co-delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) and methotrexate (MTX). Since star-like
nanocarriers can load a high dose of drugs with various properties, we developed star polymer nanomicelles based on
poly[(2,2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-block-(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-block-(acrylic acid)] having potential for
multi-drug delivery. The nanomicelles demonstrated high encapsulation efficiency, i.e. 97.1% for DOX and 79.5% for MTX. To
this end, the star-like terpolymers were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization with pentaerythritol as an initiator.
The micellar properties and dual stimuli-responsive behaviour of the terpolymers were investigated using transmission electron
microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering measurements, concluding that this
co-therapy offers a promising approach for cancer treatment.
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