Comparison of chitosan-deoxycholic acid self-aggregated nanoparticles and its folic acid coupler

Deoxycholic acid-modified chitosan(CS-DA) were synthesized by coupling Deoxycholic acid to the amino groups of chitosan with EDC as catalyzer.Then folic acid was coupled to the amino groups of chitosan which has tumor targeted potential.The structure of CS-DA and FA-CS-DA was characterized by FT-IR,1H NMR and XRD.Both of them formed self-aggregated nanoparticles in physiological saline and the self-aggregated behavior were studied by fluorescence probe technique.The self-aggregates had low critical aggregate concentration(CAC)about 10-2mg/ml.The measurements of transmission electron microscope(TEM) and dynamic light scattering(DLS) indicated that the self-aggregates were nanoparticles.CAC and particle size decreased with Deoxycholic acid substisute degree increased.But it is a hindrance to self-aggregate because of folic acid conjugate to chitosan directly.