Paclitaxel-albumin interaction in view of molecular engineering of polymer-drug conjugates

Hess, Michael; Jo, Byung-Wook; Wunderlich, Stefan

doi:10.1351/PAC-CON-08-08-33

Pure Appl. Chem., 2009, Vol. 81, No. 3, pp. 439-450

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-CON-08-08-33

Paclitaxel-albumin interaction in view of molecular engineering of polymer-drug conjugates

Michael Hess^1,2, Byung-Wook Jo¹ and Stefan Wunderlich³

¹ Department of Polymer Engineering and Science, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
² Macromolecular Chemistry, University of Siegen, 57068 Siegen, Germany
³ Physical Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany

Abstract: The interaction of water-soluble polymer conjugates of the anticancer agent paclitaxel and albumin as model protein has been investigated using fluorescence spectroscopy and NMR. Drugs and drug conjugates can enter the hydrophobic core of albumin; the kinetics of the interaction with the fluorophore, however, differs. Given the information about the steric situation of the formed complexes, some aspects of molecular engineering of the drug are discussed.