Nanoporous imprinted polymers (nanoMIPs) for controlled release of cancer drug

In this article, a new approach to directly synthesize drug molecule imbedded in the nanometer sized polymer particles is reported. Molecular imprinting is used to prepare polymers for drug specific for selectively loading of a desired drug. Computer simulations were performed to provide mechanistic insights on the binding modalities of model cancer drug, amygdalin with the polymer precursors. Controlled release of amygdalin from nanoMIPs was studied in vitro cell test and monitoring the absorbance at λem of 390 nm by fluorescence. The nanoparticles imprinted with amygdalin (nanoMIPs) showed high drug loading (0.98 mg g−1) and also releases drug in a controlled way without burst release. The polymer releases amygdalin 0.095 μg (5 min), 0.120 μg (30 min), 0.180 μg (180 min), 0.205 μg in 300 min in de-ionized water and similar pattern of release was observed in buffer 2 and 7. The sustained release of drug from nanoMIPs follows Fickian diffusion; and uniformity in nanoMIPs size have significant impact on release of drug. Swelling of nanoMIP is one of the dominant factors influencing the drug release patterns. The imprinting procedure and the studies reported in this study would be highly useful in future for cancer drug administration