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4659749 
Journal Article 
Folic acid conjugated polymeric micelles loaded with a curcumin difluorinated analog for targeting cervical and ovarian cancers 
Luong, D; Kesharwani, P; Alsaab, HO; Sau, S; Padhye, S; Sarkar, FH; Iyer, AK 
2017 
Yes 
Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces
ISSN: 0927-7765
EISSN: 1873-4367 
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV 
AMSTERDAM 
157 
490-502 
English 
28658642 
WOS:000408597900057 
The current study utilizes folic acid conjugated poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) block copolymer (FA-SMA) to enhance the solubility of a hydrophobic but very potent synthetic curcumin-difluorinated (CDF) analog and its targeted delivery to folate receptor-alpha overexpressing cancers. The nanomicelles showed high aqueous solubility. Importantly, the encapsulation of CDF in nanomicelles resulted in high photo-stability of the otherwise photo-labile drug. When the nanomicelles were tested in folate-receptor overexpressing ovarian and cervical cancer cells they exhibited high anticancer activity causing significant cell population to undergo apoptosis due to upregulation of tumor suppressor phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and inhibition of nuclear factor kappa-B (NFκB), which further confirmed the targeting ability and anticancer potentials of folate-targeted formulations. 
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