Investigation of the Relationship between the Chemical Structures and the Cytotoxicity of Some Maleic Anhydride-Containing Copolymers as Polymeric Drug Carriers
Abstract
Polymer-based substances have been an important biomaterial in the advancement of drug
delivery systems as they enabled the controlled release of therapeutic agents in fixed doses with high
bioavailability, lower toxicity, and higher pharmaceutical efficacy. This study aimed to find out whether
there is a relationship between cytotoxicity and the chemical structure of the copolymers that act as
carriers in many copolymer-drug conjugates by carrying out their characterization using spectroscopy
and morphology-elucidated techniques described in our previous studies. Selected maleic anhydride,
including polymeric carriers such as poly(maleic anhydride-co-methyl methacrylate) (MAMMA),
poly(maleic anhydride-alt-vinyl acetate) (MAVA), and poly(maleic anhydride-alt-allylphenyl ether
(MAAPE) were synthesized via a charge transfer complex (CTC) produced by a radical chain
copolymerization reaction.
1,2,3
In addition, the commercial form of poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid-comaleic
acid) (PSSMA) was purchased. The cytotoxic effects of all samples were examined using MTT
(3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) analysis for L929 (fibroblast cell), MDA
(breast cancer), MCF7 (breast cancer), and C6 cell lines (glial tumor) were examined in vitro by
comparison with cisplatin (reference compound). The Annexin V binding assay was also studied for all
copolymers. When compared with cisplatin, which is actively used in the clinic for cancer therapy,
PSSMA was found to have a cytotoxic effect on C6 cells, although not as strong as cisplatin, but the
most effective copolymer was MAMMA due to its low IC50 value. In summary, the pharmaceutical
agents delivered with these carriers could represent a promising and effective therapeutic modality
for glioblastoma.