A dual responsive hyaluronic acid graft poly(ionic liquid) block copolymer micelle for an efficient CD44-targeted antitumor drug delivery

The therapeutic efficacy of anticancer drug delivery systems is severely truncated by their low tumor target ability and inefficient drug release at the target site. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of a novel dual-responsive hyaluronic acid-grafted poly(ionic liquid) block copolymer that was able to self-assemble into spherical nanoparticles in water. Then, the doxorubicin-loaded block copolymer produced particles of 100 nm in size as examined using transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. The hyaluronic acid-grafted block copolymer micelles were efficiently taken up by CD44-overexpressing cancer cells as indicated by the cell counting kit-8 assays, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and flow cytometry experiments. Therefore, the as-prepared block copolymer micelles had good biocompatibility, low toxicity, and high selectivity, thus offering promise for the treatment of various CD44-overexpressing cancers.