Amphiphilic Poly(2-oxazoline)s with Glycine-Containing Hydrophobic Blocks Tailored for Panobinostat- and Imatinib-Loaded Micelles

Aiming toward the development of tailored carrier materials for the cytostatics panobinostat and imatinib, an amphiphilic block copolymer composed of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) and a degradable poly(2-(3-phenylpropyl)-2-oxazoline) analogue (<b>dPPhPrOx-</b><i><b>b</b></i><b>-PEtOx</b>) was synthesized <i>via</i> a postpolymerization synthesis route based on reacylation of oxidized linear poly(ethylene imine). The obtained <b>dPPhPrOx-</b><i><b>b</b></i><b>-PEtOx</b> was found to readily self-assemble into well-defined micelles with a critical micelle concentration of 1 μg mL^-1. The incubation of HUVEC cells with the blank micelles revealed their excellent cytocompatibility (up to 2 mg mL^-1), thus confirming the polymers' suitability for potential drug delivery application. Subsequently, the encapsulation of the two cytostatics, panobinostat and imatinib, into the <b>dPPhPrOx-</b><i><b>b</b></i><b>-PEtOx</b> micelles was successfully demonstrated (<i>D</i>_h ≈ 80 nm, PDI ≈ 0.16), whereby the well-defined nature of the micelle was maintained upon extended incubation at 37 °C (36 h) and storage at 4 °C (1 month). Labeling of the micelles with Alexa Fluor 594 and Alexa Fluor 647, which form a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) pair, indicated the stability of loaded micelles upon dilution until the CMC. Finally, the cytotoxicity of the loaded micelles was investigated against three different cell lines: Medulloblastoma cell lines ONS-76 and DAOY as well as the glioblastoma cell line U87MG. While the panobinostat-loaded micelles displayed similar cytotoxicity compared to the pure drug in the cell lines, imatinib-loaded micelles were found to be more potent compared to the pristine drug, as significantly higher cytotoxicity was observed across all three cell lines.