Curcumin is a natural polyphenol with potential anticancer property. However, the medicinal assets of curcumin cannot be properly utilized due to its low aqueous solubility, instability and subsequent poor bioavailability. Conjugation of curcumin to a suitable hydrophilic polymer is a useful approach for augmenting the aqueous solubility of the drug. In addition, nano-structured materials with intrinsic fluorescence property are of prime importance in the current biomedical domain. In this study, a novel glutathione containing biodegradable, non-toxic and water soluble, fluorescent polymer was developed. Curcumin was covalently conjugated to this polymer to fabricate nano-sized micelle forming fluorescent polymer-curcumin conjugate. The ability of the entity as a safer curcumin delivery vehicle and label-free cellular imaging probe was demonstrated in C6 glioma cells. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.