Amphiphilically modified chitosan cationic nanoparticles for drug delivery

A series of amphiphilic N-(2-hydroxy)propyl-3-trimethylammonium-chitosan-cholic acid (HPTA-CHI-CA) polymers were synthesized by grafting cholic acid (CA) and glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride onto chitosan. The self-assembly behavior of HPTA-CHI-CA was studied by fluorescence technique. The polymers were able to self-assemble into NPs in phosphate buffered saline with a critical aggregation concentration (CAC) in the range of 66–26 mg/L and the CAC decreased with the increasing of the degree of substitution (DS) of CA. The size of cationic HPTA-CHI-CA NPs ranges from 170 to 220 nm (PDI