{
  "abstract": "Boron carbon oxynitride (BCNO) nanoparticles are attractive boron-rich agents for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), yet their polymer-directed self-assembly, structural regulation, and delivery-function relationships remain insufficiently explored. Here, we report a stimuli-responsive polymer-BCNO nanoassembly, mPEG/PS-b-PEI@BCNO, that integrates macromolecular self-assembly with efficient boron utilization for BNCT against pancreatic cancer. The amphiphilic mPEG/PS-b-PEI copolymer was constructed by coupling methoxy poly-(ethylene glycol) (mPEG), polystyrene (PS), and poly-(ethylenimine) (PEI) through acid-labile Schiff-base linkages. Electrostatic complexation between negatively charged BCNO nanoparticles and cationic PEI, combined with solvent-driven amphiphilic assembly, generated spherical nanoassemblies with tunable morphology, size, and surface charge. Systematic variation of the mPEG/PS ratio revealed that the hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance of the copolymer governs BCNO packing and nanoassembly formation. The optimized mPEG/PS-b-PEI@BCNO nanoassemblies exhibited a uniform diameter of approximately 61 nm, positive surface charge, PEG-mediated colloidal stabilization, and acid-triggered disassembly into smaller BCNO-containing fragments under tumor-relevant acidic conditions. Despite a relatively low BCNO content of approximately 8 wt %, mPEG/PS-b-PEI@BCNO markedly improved boron delivery in UN-KC-6141 pancreatic cancer cells; the nanoassemblies achieved higher boron uptake efficiency than bare BCNO and boronophenylalanine (BPA). In 3D pancreatic tumor spheroids, mPEG/PS-b-PEI@BCNO delivered boron concentrations above the therapeutic threshold for BNCT and exhibited boron utilization efficiencies of 16.64% at pH 7.4 and 10.89% at pH 6.5. Under equivalent ¹⁰B dosing, the nanoassemblies produced the strongest BNCT response in 3D spheroids, inducing approximately 52% cell death and significantly outperforming bare BCNO and BPA. These findings demonstrate that polymer-controlled nanoassembly architecture enhances boron utilization without relying solely on high intrinsic boron loading, establishing a design framework for the next-generation BNCT nanodrugs.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City 300, Taiwan.",
    "Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City 300, Taiwan.",
    "Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) center, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City 300, Taiwan.",
    "Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City 300, Taiwan.",
    "Institute of Oral Biology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei 112304, Taiwan."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Wei-Hsin Chan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lu-Ang Chen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Wei-Yuan Huang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lin-Sheng Yu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Tzu-Chieh Sun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Fang-Hsin Chen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Chi-Shuo Chen",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8982-6412"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Tzu-Wei Wang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0669-6240"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Pei-Yuin Keng",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8658-7708"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7fkr0x4x74n9n.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1021/acsnanoscienceau.6c00088",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13693259",
  "id": "7fkr0x4x74n9n",
  "issns": [
    "2694-2496"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921422",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2741|Boron Compounds in Chemistry"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214461635",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13693259?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13693259",
  "pmid": "42921422",
  "published": "2026-09-26",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7fkr0x4x74n9n.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:36Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42921422",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921422"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2741|Boron Compounds in Chemistry",
      "subfield": "imaging"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Polymer-Directed Self-Assembly of BCNO Nanoparticles for Efficient Boron Utilization in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy.",
  "title_text": "Polymer-Directed Self-Assembly of BCNO Nanoparticles for Efficient Boron Utilization in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:36Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7fkr0x4x74n9n",
  "venue": "ACS nanoscience Au",
  "versions": []
}