Abstract
The effect of three nucleoside analogue antimetabolites (5-fluorouracil, floxuridine, and gemcitabine) on the structure of Pluronic L62 copolymer micelles was investigated using small-angle neutron scattering. These antimetabolites used for cancer chemotherapy have analogous molecular structures but different molecular sizes and aqueous solubilities. It was found that the addition of the three antimetabolites slightly reduced the micellar size and aggregation number, and the micellar anisotropy. The added antimetabolites also changed the internal molecular distribution of the micelles as measured by the scattering length densities, resulting in enhanced hydration of the hydrophobic core region of the micelle. The strength of the effect was found to correlate with the molecular properties of the model drugs, i.e. a larger molecular size and a higher aqueous solubility lead to enhanced hydration of the micellar core.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 15686-15692 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 24 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2017 |
Funding
The research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Spallation Neutron Source and Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. The research was also sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. We thank Dr Sungsik Lee for his assistance during the experiments conducted at 12-BM-B of the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory.