{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T16:36:51Z","timestamp":1787243811470,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,26]],"date-time":"2023-02-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1677369600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Polymers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Quercetin is a hydrophobic molecule with short blood circulation times and instability. The development of a nano-delivery system formulation of quercetin may increase its bioavailability, resulting in greater tumor suppressing effects. Triblock ABA type polycaprolactone-polyethylenglycol- polycaprolactone (PCL-PEG-PCL) copolymers have been synthetized using ring-opening polymerization of caprolactone from PEG diol. The copolymers were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The triblock copolymers self-assembled in water forming micelles consisting of a core of biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) and a corona of polyethylenglycol (PEG). The core-shell PCL-PEG-PCL nanoparticles were able to incorporate quercetin into the core. They were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and NMR. The cellular uptake efficiency of human colorectal carcinoma cells was quantitatively determined by flow cytometry using nanoparticles loaded with Nile Red as hydrophobic model drug. The cytotoxic effect of quercetin-loaded nanoparticles was evaluated on HCT 116 cells, showing promising results.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/polym15051179","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,27]],"date-time":"2023-02-27T01:59:10Z","timestamp":1677463150000},"page":"1179","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Poly(\u03b5-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol) Tri-Block Copolymer as Quercetin Delivery System for Human Colorectal Carcinoma Cells: Synthesis, Characterization and In Vitro Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6627-8425","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nancy","family":"Ferrentino","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie, Universit\u00e0 del Sannio, Via de Sanctis snc, 82100 Benevento, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Preziosa","family":"Romano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie, Universit\u00e0 del Sannio, Via de Sanctis snc, 82100 Benevento, Italy"},{"name":"Advanced Medical Pharma, (AMP-BIOTEC) Healthcare Research and Innovation Center, 82030 San Salvatore Telesino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4787-3776","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Silvia","family":"Zappavigna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, 16, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marianna","family":"Abate","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, 16, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7323-4444","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vitale","family":"Del Vecchio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania \u201cLuigi Vanvitelli\u201d, Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, 16, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dario","family":"Romano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Germinario","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie, Universit\u00e0 del Sannio, Via de Sanctis snc, 82100 Benevento, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Celestino","family":"Grifa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie, Universit\u00e0 del Sannio, Via de Sanctis snc, 82100 Benevento, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1938-5732","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rosanna","family":"Filosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie, Universit\u00e0 del Sannio, Via de Sanctis snc, 82100 Benevento, Italy"},{"name":"Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit of Telese Terme Institute, 82037 Telese Terme, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6231-2419","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniela","family":"Pappalardo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie, Universit\u00e0 del Sannio, Via de Sanctis snc, 82100 Benevento, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"451","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jconrel.2014.03.057","article-title":"EPR: Evidence and Fallacy","volume":"190","author":"Nichols","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. 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