This review focuses on smart nano-materials built of stimuli-responsive (SR) polymers and will discuss their numerous applications in the biomedical field. The authors will first provide an overview of different stimuli and their corresponding, responsive polymers. By introducing myriad functionalities, SR polymers present a wide range of possibilities in the design of stimuli-responsive devices, making use of virtually all types of polymer constructs, from self-assembled structures (micelles, vesicles) to surfaces (polymer brushes, films) as described in the second section of the review. In the last section of this review the authors report on some of the most promising applications of stimuli-responsive polymers in nanomedicine. In particular, we will discuss applications pertaining to diagnosis, where SR polymers are used to construct sensors capable of selective recognition and quantification of analytes and physical variables, as well as imaging devices. We will also highlight some examples of responsive systems used for therapeutic applications, including smart drug delivery systems (micelles, vesicles, dendrimers...) and surfaces for regenerative medicine.

Chemical reactions can be confi ned to nanoscale compartments by encapsulating catalysts in hollow nanoobjects. Such reaction compartments effectively become nanoreactors when substrate and product are exchanged between bulk solution and cavity. A key issue, thereby, is control of shell permeability. Nanoreactors exhibit selectivity and responsiveness if their shells discriminate among molecules and if access can be modulated by external triggers. Here, we review natural nanoreactors that include protein-based bacterial microcompartments, protein cages, and viruses. Artifi cial nanoreactors based on dendrimers, layer-by-layer capsules, and amphiphilic block copolymer polymersomes are also discussed. Selectivity in these nanoreactors is either due to intrinsic reactor-shell semipermeability or can be engineered using smart polymers to gate the reactors. Moreover, a rich repertoire of pores and channels are already provided in nature, e.g., in protein-based nanoreactors or in trans-membrane channel proteins. The latter can be reconstituted in polymersomes, resulting in gated vesicles. Nanoreactors hold promise for applications ranging from selective and size-constrained organic synthesis to biomedical advances (e.g., artifi cial organelles, biosensing) and as analytical tools to study reaction mechanisms.

We designed and prepared nanoreactors based on a poly(2-methyloxazoline)-block-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block-poly(2-methyloxazoline (PMOXA-b-PDMS-b-PMOXA) amphiphilic triblock copolymer encapsulating the enzyme penicillin acylase for local and controlled production of antibiotics.

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A new series of thirteen 2-[3-(substituted amino)-6-chloro-1,1-dioxo-1,4,2-benzodithiazin-7-yl]-3-phenyl-4(3H)-quinazolinones 4-16 were prepared in order to evaluate their cytotoxic activity against 12 human cancer cell lines. The bioassay indicated that the quinazolinone derivatives 5, 8-12, 15, and 16 possess cancer-cell growth-inhibitory properties. Compounds 5 and 12 showed a high level of selectivity for certain cell lines. The most active compounds 9, 10, 15, and 16 showed moderate antiproliferative activity and were approximately 4-fold less potent than cisplatin.

Chemical reactions can be confined to nanoscale compartments by encapsulating catalysts in hollow nanoobjects. Such reaction compartments effectively become nanoreactors when substrate and product are exchanged between bulk solution and cavity. A key issue, thereby, is control of shell permeability. Nanoreactors exhibit selectivity and responsiveness if their shells discriminate among molecules and if access can be modulated by external triggers. Here, we review natural nanoreactors that include protein‐based bacterial microcompartments, protein cages, and viruses. Artificial nanoreactors based on dendrimers, layer‐by‐layer capsules, and amphiphilic block copolymer polymersomes are also discussed. Selectivity in these nanoreactors is either due to intrinsic reactor‐shell semipermeability or can be engineered using smart polymers to gate the reactors. Moreover, a rich repertoire of pores and channels are already provided in nature, e.g., in protein‐based nanoreactors or in trans‐membrane channel proteins. The latter can be reconstituted in polymersomes, resulting in gated vesicles. Nanoreactors hold promise for applications ranging from selective and size‐constrained organic synthesis to biomedical advances (e.g., artificial organelles, biosensing) and as analytical tools to study reaction mechanisms.