Nanoparticles: Organic Nanoparticles

Polymeric micelles. Polymeric micelles consist of a core of aggregated hydrophobic polymers surrounded by hydrophilic polymeric chains.

Advantages:

  • Their small size and hydrophilic nature allow them to avoid uptake by the reticuloendothelial system, significantly increasing their circulation time.
  • Their hydrophilic exterior also allows polymeric micelles to effectively and safely encapsulate very hydrophobic drugs for safe transport through the body.
  • Excellent biocompatibility.

Limitations:

  • poorly controlled release profiles of encapsulated cargo
  • and a high sensitivity to structural change(s)

Toolbox

  1. Richards, D. A., Maruani, A. & Chudasama, V. (2017). Antibody fragments as nanoparticle targeting ligands: a step in the right direction. Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 63-77 DOI: 10.1039/C6SC02403C http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2017/sc/c6sc02403c
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