{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T03:25:25Z","timestamp":1773026725144,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,28]],"date-time":"2024-05-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1716854400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The synergistic effect of drug and gene delivery is expected to significantly improve cancer therapy. However, it is still challenging to design suitable nanocarriers that are able to load simultaneously anticancer drugs and nucleic acids due to their different physico-chemical properties. In the present work, an amphiphilic block copolymer comprising a biocompatible poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) block and a multi-alkyne-functional biodegradable polycarbonate (PC) block was modified with a number of poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) side chains applying the highly efficient azide\u2013alkyne \u201cclick\u201d chemistry reaction. The resulting cationic amphiphilic copolymer with block and graft architecture (MPEG-b-(PC-g-PDMAEMA)) self-associated in aqueous media into nanosized micelles which were loaded with the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer drug quercetin. The drug-loaded nanoparticles were further used to form micelleplexes in aqueous media through electrostatic interactions with DNA. The obtained nanoaggregates\u2014empty and drug-loaded micelles as well as the micelleplexes intended for simultaneous DNA and drug codelivery\u2014were physico-chemically characterized. Additionally, initial in vitro evaluations were performed, indicating the potential application of the novel polymer nanocarriers as drug delivery systems.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules29112540","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,28]],"date-time":"2024-05-28T07:38:39Z","timestamp":1716881919000},"page":"2540","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-Grafted Amphiphilic Block Copolymer Micelles Co-Loaded with Quercetin and DNA"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"29","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8849-8787","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Radostina","family":"Kalinova","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Polymers, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Akad. G. Bonchev St., Bl. 103-A, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pavel","family":"Videv","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University \u201cSt. Kliment Ohridski\u201d, 8 Dragan Tzankov Blvd., 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Svetla","family":"Petrova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University \u201cSt. Kliment Ohridski\u201d, 8 Dragan Tzankov Blvd., 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jordan","family":"Doumanov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University \u201cSt. Kliment Ohridski\u201d, 8 Dragan Tzankov Blvd., 1164 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1024-9198","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ivaylo","family":"Dimitrov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Polymers, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Akad. G. Bonchev St., Bl. 103-A, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sung, Y., and Kim, S. (2020). Recent advances in polymeric drug delivery systems. Biomater. Res., 24.","DOI":"10.1186\/s40824-020-00190-7"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Harun-Or-Rashid, M., Aktar, M., Hossain, M., Sarkar, N., Islam, M., Arafat, M., Bhowmik, S., and Yusa, S.-I. (2023). Recent advances in micro- and nano-drug delivery systems based on natural and synthetic biomaterials. 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