Title:Polymer Self-Assembled Nanostructures as Innovative Drug Nanocarrier Platforms
Volume: 22
Issue: 19
Author(s): Natassa Pippa, Stergios Pispas and Costas Demetzos
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Polymeric micelles, polyelectrolyte complexes, polymersomes, polymeric nanoparticles, nanogels, polymer grafted liposomes,
drug delivery and targeting, nanocarrier platforms.
Abstract: Background: Polymer self-assembled nanostructures are used in pharmaceutical sciences
as bioactive molecules’ delivery systems for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. Micelles,
polyelectrolyte complexes, polymersomes, polymeric nanoparticles, nanogels and polymer
grafted liposomes represent delivery vehicles that are marketed and/or under clinical development,
as drug formulations. Methods: In this mini-review, these, recently appeared in the literature,
innovative polymer drug nanocarrier platforms are discussed, starting from their technological
development in the laboratory to their potential clinical use, through studies of their biophysics,
thermodynamics, physical behavior, morphology, bio-mimicry, therapeutic efficacy and safety. The properties of an ideal drug delivery
system are the structural control over size and shape of drug or imaging agent cargo/domain, biocompatibility, nontoxic polymer/
pendant functionality and the precise, nanoscale container and/or scaffolding properties with high drug or imaging agent capacity
features. Self-assembled polymer nanostructures exhibit all these properties and could be considered as ideal drug nanocarriers through
control of their size, structure and morphology, with the aid of a large variety of parameters, in vitro and in vivo. These modern trends reside
at the interface of soft matter self-assembly and pharmaceutical sciences and the technologies for health. Conclusion: Great advantages
related to basic science and applications are expected by understanding the self-assembly behavior of these polymeric nanotechnological
drug delivery systems, created through bio-inspiration and biomimicry and have potential utilization into clinical applications
