Nanomedicine has revolutionized disease
theranostics by the accurate diagnosis and efficient
therapy. Here, the
PAMAM dendrimer decorated PVCL-GMA
nanogels (NGs) were developed for favorable biodistribution in vivo and enhanced antitumor efficacy of ovarian
carcinoma. By an ingenious design, the NGs with a unique structure that GMA-rich domains were localized on the surface were synthesized via precipitation polymerization. After G2
dendrimer decoration, the overall charge is changed from neutral to positive, and the NGs-G2 display the whole charge nature of positively charged corona and neutral core. Importantly, the unique architecture and charge conversion of NGs-G2 have a profound impact on the biodistribution and drug delivery in vivo. As a consequence of this alteration, the NGs-G2 as nanocarriers emerge the highly sought biodistribution of reduced liver accumulation, enhanced
tumor uptake, and promoted drug release, resulting in the significantly augmented antitumor efficacy with low side effects. Remarkably, this finding is contrary to some reported work that the nanocarriers with positive charge have preferential liver uptake. Moreover, the NGs-G2 also displayed thermal/pH dual-responsive behaviors, excellent biocompatibility, improved cellular uptake, and stimuli-responsive drug release. Encouragingly, this work demonstrates a novel insight into the strategy for optimizing design, improving biodistribution and enhancing
theranostic efficacy of nanocarriers.