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Surface architecture of pharmaceutical nanocarriers (using polymeric micelles as an example) and the length of the spacer group through which specific ligand is attached to the carrier surface determine the interaction of ligand-bearing nanocarrier with cells. We have prepared surface-modified polyethyleneglycol-phosphatidylethanolamine (PEG-PE) micelles containing TATp attached to PEG-PE with a PEG block longer or shorter (TATp-PEG(1000)-PE or TATp-PEG(3400)-PE) than the PEG block in the main micelle-forming material (PEG(750)-PE and/or PEG(2000)-PE). The length of the PEG spacer in TATp-PEG-PE should allow for a non-hindered interaction of TATp with the cell surface, but it should not be too long to allow for the conformational "folding in" of TATp moiety inside the PEG globule making it unable to interact with the cells. The "folding in" of the ligand attached to an unnecessary long PEG spacer was further supported by the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) study between fluorescently labeled lipid 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-(7-nitro-2-1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl) (NBD-PE) inserted into the core of PEG(750)-PE micelles and micelle-incorporated rhodamine-labeled TATp-PEG-PE. Micelles containing rhodamine-labeled TATp-PEG-PE with the longest PEG spacer (3400 Da) demonstrated strongly enhanced quenching of NBD-PE fluorescence with rhodamine-TATp confirming the "folding in" of TATp moiety into PEG globule bringing it closer to the micelle core-incorporated NBD.

Two poorly soluble, potent anticancer drugs, paclitaxel and camptothecin, were successfully solubilized by mixed micelles of polyethylene glycol-phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PEG-PE) and vitamin E. Drug containing micelles were additionally modified with anti-nucleosome monoclonal antibody 2C5 (mAb 2C5), which can specifically bring micelles to tumor cells in vitro. The optimized micelles had an average size of about 13-to-22 nm and the immuno-modification of micelles did not significantly change it. The solubilization of both drugs by the mixed micelles was more efficient than by micelles made of PEG-PE alone. Solubilization of camptothecin in micelles prevented also the hydrolysis of active lactone form of the drug to inactive carboxylate form. Drug loaded mixed micelles and mAb 2C5-immunomicelles demonstrated significantly higher in vitro cytotoxicity than free drug against various cancer cell lines.

To develop targeted pharmaceutical carriers additionally capable of responding to certain local stimuli, such as decreased pH values in tumors or infarcts, targeted long-circulating PEGylated liposomes and PEG-phosphatidylethanolamine (PEG-PE)-based micelles have been prepared with several functions. First, they are capable of targeting a specific cell or organ by attaching the monoclonal antimyosin antibody 2G4 to their surface via pNP-PEG-PE moieties. Second, these liposomes and micelles were additionally modified with biotin or TAT peptide (TATp) moieties attached to the surface of the nanocarrier by using biotin-PE or TATp-PE or TATp-short PEG-PE derivatives. PEG-PE used for liposome surface modification or for micelle preparation was made degradable by inserting the pH-sensitive hydrazone bond between PEG and PE (PEG-Hz-PE). Under normal pH values, biotin and TATp functions on the surface of nanocarriers were "shielded" by long protecting PEG chains (pH-degradable PEG(2000)-PE or PEG(5000)-PE) or by even longer pNP-PEG-PE moieties used to attach antibodies to the nanocarrier (non-pH-degradable PEG(3400)-PE or PEG(5000)-PE). At pH 7.4-8.0, both liposomes and micelles demonstrated high specific binding with 2G4 antibody substrate, myosin, but very limited binding on an avidin column (biotin-containing nanocarriers) or internalization by NIH/3T3 or U-87 cells (TATp-containing nanocarriers). However, upon brief incubation (15-30 min) at lower pH values (pH 5.0-6.0), nanocarriers lost their protective PEG shell because of acidic hydrolysis of PEG-Hz-PE and acquired the ability to become strongly retained on an avidin column (biotin-containing nanocarriers) or effectively internalized by cells via TATp moieties (TATp-containing nanocarriers). We consider this result as the first step in the development of multifunctional stimuli-sensitive pharmaceutical nanocarriers.