Abstract

Novel bone targeting naproxen prodrugs with poly(aspartic acid) moieties and with two and three poly(aspartic acid) sequences peptide dendrimers were synthesized using a conventional method. The modified naproxen conjugates were incubated with hydroxyapatite in PBS at physiological conditions over 16h. The study revealed the hydroxyapatite binding properties of poly(aspartic acid) and it was found that the peptide dendrimer prodrugs exhibited a faster initial binding and a greater total binding. The obtained binding data in vitro indicated that the peptide dendrimers with poly(aspartic acid) sequences were useful for the development of new bone targeting molecules for drug delivery to bone.

Keywords: Bone-targeting, poly(aspartic acid), peptide dendrimers, hydroxyapatite, in vitro