Pukyong National University

Pukyong National University Develops ‘Smart Drug Delivery System’ to Enhance Anticancer Drug Delivery to Tumor Cells

-Research team led by Ph.D. candidate Byeong Kook Kim, Professor Kwon Taek Lim, and Professor Sang-Hyug Park

-Developed redox-responsive maltopheptaose-based micelles; research published in international journal

A research team from Pukyong National University (President Bae Sang-hoon) has developed a “smart drug delivery system” that enhances the efficiency of anticancer drug delivery to tumor cells.

The system, titled “redox-responsive crosslinked maltopheptaose-based micelles,” was developed by Ph.D. candidate Byeong Kook Kim (Department of Industry 4.0 Convergence Bionics Engineering) as the first author, with Professor Kwon Taek Lim (Professor Emeritus) and Professor Sang-Hyug Park (Major of Biomedical Engineering, Division of Smart Healthcare) as corresponding authors.

The system was developed to overcome the limitations of low anticancer efficacy caused by the nonspecific delivery of doxorubicin, a potent anticancer drug widely used in the treatment of various cancers but known to cause several side effects.

The system developed by the Pukyong National University research team is composed of an A2B-type miktoarm block copolymer based on maltopentaose, a biocompatible oligosaccharide. It incorporates disulfide or diselenide crosslinking within the micelle core, enabling selective drug release only upon reaching cancer cells, while minimizing effects on healthy tissues.

Experimental results showed that the system exhibited high drug-loading efficiency, demonstrating biocompatibility with normal cells and strong anticancer effects against cancer cells.

Professor Sang-Hyug Park stated, “This study is significant in that it presents a novel method to overcome the early leakage of drugs into the bloodstream―a major issue in conventional drug delivery systems, which often leads to various side effects. The system holds promise for applications in precision anticancer drug delivery and reduced-side-effect nanomedicine platforms, garnering considerable interest from both academia and industry.”

The findings of this study were recently published in the prestigious international journal <Carbohydrate Polymers> (JCR Top 0.9%) in the field of chemistry and materials engineering, under the title ‘Redox-responsive core-cross-linked micelles of miktoarm maltoheptaose-b-poly(furfuryl methacrylate) for enhanced anticancer drug delivery.’ <Pukyong Today>