Engineering Polymersomes for Diagnostics and Therapy. Adv Healthc Mater 2018 Apr;7(8):e1701276
Date
01/16/2018Pubmed ID
29334183Pubmed Central ID
PMC6377267DOI
10.1002/adhm.201701276Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85040648344 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 131 CitationsAbstract
Engineered polymer vesicles, termed as polymersomes, confer a flexibility to control their structure, properties, and functionality. Self-assembly of amphiphilic copolymers leads to vesicles consisting of a hydrophobic bilayer membrane and hydrophilic core, each of which is loaded with a wide array of small and large molecules of interests. As such, polymersomes are increasingly being studied as carriers of imaging probes and therapeutic drugs. Effective delivery of polymersomes necessitates careful design of polymersomes. Therefore, this review article discusses the design strategies of polymersomes developed for enhanced transport and efficacy of imaging probes and therapeutic drugs. In particular, the article focuses on overviewing technologies to regulate the size, structure, shape, surface activity, and stimuli- responsiveness of polymersomes and discussing the extent to which these properties and structure of polymersomes influence the efficacy of cargo molecules. Taken together with future considerations, this article will serve to improve the controllability of polymersome functions and accelerate the use of polymersomes in biomedical applications.
Author List
Leong J, Teo JY, Aakalu VK, Yang YY, Kong HAuthor
Vinay Kumar Aakalu MPH, MD Chair, Professor in the Ophthalmology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsDrug Carriers
Humans
Nanoparticles
Particle Size
Pathology, Molecular
Polymers
