Carrier nanoparticles and related compositions, methods and systems

1. A polymer conjugate comprising a boronic acid of formula:

wherein

R 3 and R 4 are independently (CH 2 CH 2 O) t , where t is from 2 to 2000,

X 1 is —NH—C(═O)—, —C(═O)—NH—CH 2 , —C(═O)—NH—, —S—S—, —O—C(═O)— or —C(═O)—O—;

Y 1 is an alkylene with a carbon number of at least 1 or is an aromatic group;

Functional group 1 and Functional group 2 are the same or different and independently comprise —OCH 3 , —OH, —B(OH) 2 , —COOH, —NH 2 , or —(X 1 )—(Y 1 )—B(OH) 2 ;

r is in a range of from 1 to 1000;

a is 0, 1, 2, or 3; and

b is 1, 2 or 3; and

a polyol polymer having a repeating structure of:

where n is from 1 to 20,

wherein the boronic acid polymer is coupled to the polyol polymer with at least one reversible borate ester linkage that replaces the hydroxyl groups of the Y 1 —B(OH) 2 moiety.

2. The polymer conjugate of claim 1 , wherein Y 1 is phenyl.

3. The polymer conjugate of claim 1 , wherein t is from 100 to 300.

4. The polymer conjugate of claim 1 , wherein r is 1, a is 0, and b is 1.

5. The polymer conjugate of claim 1 , wherein Functional group 1 and Functional group 2 are the same or different and independently comprise —COOH, —NH 2 , —OH, or —B(OH) 2 .

6. The polymer conjugate of claim 1 wherein:

Y 1 is phenyl;

a is 0;

b is 1;

r is 1;

t is 20 to 300; and

Functional group 2 comprises —OH, —B(OH) 2 , —COOH, or —NH 2 .

7. The polymer conjugate of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the boron atoms comprise 10 B.

8. The polymer conjugate of claim 1 , wherein Y 1 is an aromatic group comprising at least one 19 F, the polymer being detectable by in vivo imaging via 19 F NMR spectroscopy when in a patient.

9. The polymer conjugate of claim 1 , wherein Y 1 is an aromatic group comprising at least one 18 F.

10. A polymer conjugate of claim 1 and at least one targeting ligand, wherein the boronic acid polymer is coupled to the targeting ligand with at least one reversible linkage with the OH, —B(OH) 2 , —COOH, or —NH 2 of at least one of Functional group 1 or Functional group 2, the at least one targeting ligand comprising a nucleotide, polynucleotide, peptide, polypeptide, protein, full antibody, antibody fragment, polysaccharide, or small molecule.

11. The polymer conjugate of claim 10 , wherein the small molecule comprises transferrin, folic acid, or galactose.

12. The polymer conjugate of claim 10 , wherein the small molecule comprises chemotherapeutics including an epothilone, a camptothecin-based drugs, doxorubicin, taxol, or a nucleic acid.

13. A polymer conjugate comprising a boronic acid of formula:

wherein

R 3 and R 4 are independently (CH 2 CH 2 O) t , where t is from 2 to 2000,

X 1 is —NH—C(═O)—, —C(═O)—NH—CH 2 , —C(═O)—NH—, —S—S—, —O—C(═O)— or —C(═O)—O—;

Y 1 is an alkylene with a carbon number of at least 1 or is an aromatic group;

Functional group 1 and Functional group 2 are the same or different and independently comprise —OCH 3 , —OH, —B(OH) 2 , —COOH, —NH 2 , or —(X 1 )—(Y 1 )—B(OH) 2 ;

r is in a range of from 1 to 1000;

a is 0, 1, 2, or 3; and

b is 1, 2 or 3; and

a polyol polymer having at least one of the following repeating structural units:

wherein

A is an organic moiety of having a structure of:

wherein

the spacer is independently selected from any organic group;

the amino acid is selected from any organic group bearing a free amine and a free carboxylic acid group;

n is a number from 1 to 20; and

Z 1 is independently selected from —NH 2 , —OH, —SH, and —COOH.

14. The polymer conjugate of claim 13 , wherein A is independently:

15. The polymer conjugate of claim 13 , wherein B is

in which q is 1-20; p is 20-200; and L is a leaving group.

16. The polymer conjugate of claim 13 , wherein the structural unit of formula (I) is:

17. The polymer conjugate of claim 13 , wherein the structural unit of formula (II) is:

18. The polymer conjugate of claim 13 , wherein the structural unit of formula (III) is:

in which n is 1-20.

19. The polymer conjugate of claim 13 , wherein the polymer containing a polyol is

20. The polymer conjugate of claim 13 , further comprising a targeting ligand, wherein the boronic acid polymer is coupled to the targeting ligand with at least one reversible linkage with the OH, —B(OH) 2 , —COOH, or —NH 2 of at least one of Functional group 1 or Functional group 2, the targeting ligand comprising at least one a small molecule, protein, protein fragment, peptide, full antibody, antibody fragment, monosaccharide, polysaccharide, nucleotide, or polynucleotide.

21. The polymer conjugate of claim 20 , wherein the targeting ligand is an antibody or antibody fragment against a surface cell receptor.

22. The polymer conjugate of claim 20 , wherein the targeting ligand is folic acid.

23. The polymer conjugate of claim 20 , wherein the targeting ligand is transferrin.

24. The polymer conjugate of claim 13 , further comprising a therapeutic agent, wherein the boronic acid polymer is coupled to the therapeutic agent with at least one reversible linkage with the OH, —B(OH) 2 , —COOH, or —NH 2 of at least one of Functional group 1 or Functional group 2.

25. The polymer conjugate of claim 24 , wherein the therapeutic agent comprises at least one of a chemotherapeutic or a nucleic acid.

26. The polymer conjugate of claim 25 , wherein the therapeutic agent comprises camptothecin, doxorubicin, or taxol.