The pH-responsive amphiphilic copolymer poly(SDMA-co-OEGMA) (PSO) was prepared from the pH-sensitive hydrophobic monomer 2-styryl-1,3-dioxan-5-yl methacrylate (SDMA) and the hydrophilic monomer oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (OEGMA) by radical polymerization. Polymeric aggregates with about 130 nm diameter were obtained by the self-assembly of PSO in neutral aqueous solution. The critical aggregation concentration of the copolymer was determined to be 6.5 mg/L (1.2 x 10(-7) M). Cinnamic aldehyde (CA) small molecules are broken away from PSO side chains after the hydrolysis of acid-labile cyclic acetal in cultured A375 human melanoma cells and further suppress the proliferation of this kind of tumor cells. Furthermore, the PSO aggregate was demonstrated to be a drug carrier for encapsulating Nile Red as model drug in in vitro testing. Based on the pH-responsive characteristic, the Nile Red molecules loaded in self-assembly process could be released from the aggregate inside cultured B16 mouse melanoma cells. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.