Dual Stimuli-Responsive Hybrid Polymeric Nanoparticles Self-Assembled from POSS-Based Starlike Copolymer-Drug Conjugates for Efficient Intracellular Delivery of Hydrophobic Drugs

To further fine tune drug release and enhance therapeutic effects of polyhedral oligomericsilsesquioxane (POSS)-based nanomedicine, a starlike organic–inorganic conjugate was synthesized by grafting semitelechelic N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymers to a POSS rigid core through reductively degradable disulfide bonds. The hydrophobic docetaxel (DTX) was attached to the grafts by pH-sensitive hydrazone bonds and also encapsulated into the POSS core (SP-DTX). Thus, the final amphiphilic star-shaped conjugates could self-assemble into nanoparticles and exhibited conspicuous drug-loading capacity (20.1 wt %) based on the covalently conjugated accompanied by physically encapsulated DTX. The stimuli-responsive DTX release under acidic lysosomal and reducing cytoplasmic environments was verified, leading to enhanced cytotoxicity against PC-3 human prostate carcinoma cells. To evaluate the in vivo therapeutic effects of the DTX-loaded nanovehicles objectively, a stroma-rich, prostate xenograft tumor model was generated. SP-DTX displayed uniform tumor distribution and suppressed tumor growth to a more pronounced level (tumor inhibition of 78.9%) than nonredox-sensitive SP-DTX-A (67.4%), SP-DTX-C contained DTX only in the core (65.5%) or linear P-DTX (60.7%) through enhanced depletion of cancer-associated fibroblasts and induction of apoptosis. The hybrid POSS-based polymeric nanoparticles offer an efficient approach to transport hydrophobic drugs for cancer therapy.