An eximious and affordable GSH stimulus-responsive poly(α-lipoic acid) nanocarrier bonding combretastatin A4 for tumor therapy.

Due to poor penetration of cytotoxic-drug-loaded-nanomedicines, more and more attention has been paid to nanodrugs of vascular disrupting agents (VDAs). However, traditional VDA nanodrugs lack tumor-selectivity, so new nano-carriers for tumor-selective CA4 delivery are urgently needed. Here, a novel PEGylated poly(alpha-lipoic acid) graft combretastatin A4 (PALA-g-mPEG/CA4) nanoparticle with glutathione (GSH) stimulus responsive ability was prepared from alpha-lipoic acid in a simple approach, which can accumulate and release CA4 selectively in a tumor site. Furthermore, this simple system has potential application value for tumor-targeting delivery and GSH sensitive release of other drugs.