Effect of growing glycosylation extents on the self-assembly and active targeting in vitro of branched poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide) block copolymers

•Glycosylation extent affected the micellization of a four-arm PEO-PPO copolymer.•Modification with the d-gluconic acid led to a dramatic decrease of the CMC.•Glycosylation with a disaccharide and a trisaccharide less favored micellization.•Glycosylated micelles increased the aqueous solubility of imatinib up to 100-fold.•Imatinib nanoencapsulation decreased the IC50 in a rhabdomyosarcoma cell line.