GADOLINIUM- AND CURCUMIN-LOADED MICELLES BASED ON alpha-FETOPROTEIN FUNCTIONALIZED AMPHIPHILIC BLOCK COPOLYMERS

This article describes a method of obtaining curcumin-and gadolinium-loaded micelles based on triblock amphiphilic polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol copolymers Pluronic F-127 and Pluronic P-123 (Sigma-Aldrich, USA) superficially functionalized with recombinant human - fetoprotein. The size of nanoparticles was measured using dynamic light scattering and amounted to an average of 50 to 100 nm. The micelles were stable: stored at +4 degrees C for 10 days, they exhibited no changes in their properties that would not fall within the standard error of measurement for the methods used for the analysis. Preliminary in vivo experiments conducted on mice showed no conspicuous toxicity of micelles with the maximum possible concentration of gadolinium, which enables their use in tumor tissue imaging in vivo.