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
- 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