Fig. 1:

Synthetic and nanoparticle preparation approaches employed in this work. (A) Synthesis of gemcitabine-retinoic acid prodrug conjugate, GemRA, (B) synthesis of amphiphilic polymer, PGRA, used for encapsulation of GemRA and (C), strategies used to generate GemRA nanoparticles with the initial attempt being (i) direct self-assembly of GemRA which resulted in precipitation followed by (ii) encapsulation of GemRA through self-assembly in presence of amphiphilic PGRA which gave GemRA loaded nanoparticles dispersed in aqueous solution.