Carbohydrate-Specific Uptake of Fucosylated Polymeric Micelles by Different Cancer Cell Lines

Inspired by upregulated levels of fucosylated proteins on the surfaces of multiple types of cancer cells, micelles carrying beta-L-fucose and beta-D-glucose were prepared. A range of block copolymers were synthesized by reacting a mixture of 2-azidoethyl beta-L-fucopyranoside (FucEtN(3)) and 2-azideoethyl beta-D-glucopyranoside (GlcEtN(3)) with poly(propargyl methacrylate)-block-poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PPMA-b-PBA) using copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). Five block copolymers were obtained ranging from 100 mol % fucose to 100% glucose functionalization. The resulting micelles had hydrodynamic diameters of around 30 nm. In this work, we show that fucosylated micelles reveal an increased uptake by pancreatic, lung, and ovarian carcinoma cell lines, whereas the uptake by the healthy cell lines (CHO) is negligible. This finding suggests that these micelles can be used for targeted drug delivery toward cancer cells.