Designing Molecular Building Blocks for Functional Polymersomes

Abstract

In recent years various polymeric vesicles have been reported that show promising results for drug delivery applications, nanomotors and/or nanoreactors. These polymeric vesicles can be assembled from many different materials and various coupling reactions have been applied for functionalization of the vesicles. However, the designs reported are still rather simple, as it is challenging to mimic biological complex systems. In this review we focus on the properties of widely used hydrophobic polymers to better understand polymersome properties for various applications. Examples are shown of how researchers have used and modulated block‐copolymers and their properties to their advantage. Furthermore, an overview of possible end group functionalizations of nanoparticles is reported, giving insight in recent developments of smart nanoparticles for biomedical applications.

Multivalent Protein‐Loaded pH‐Stable Polymersomes: First Step toward Protein Targeted Therapeutics

“…For this purpose, the direct modification of various types of block copolymers is often applied to introduce functional groups. [ 21,24–27 ] However, the use of such pre‐functionalized block copolymers is not advisable when the functional groups should only be present on the outer vesicle surface or when the self‐assembly of the vesicle structure is disturbed by the chemical modification of a block copolymer component. Therefore, a robust method is needed to enable bio‐orthogonal and highly specific functionalization of the vesicle surfaces after the self‐assembly process.…”

A bio-orthogonal functionalization strategy for site-specific coupling of antibodies on vesicle surfaces after self-assembly

“…For this purpose, the pre-modification of various types of block-copolymers, lipids or cholesterol is often applied to introduce functional groups. [19][20][21][22][23][24] One example is the commercially available DBCO modified liposome formulation (Immunosome®-DBCO). In this case, the functional DBCO groups were directly introduced via the phos-pholipid before the liposomes' self-assembly.…”

Weak Polyelectrolytes as Nanoarchitectonic Design Tools for Functional Materials: A Review of Recent Achievements

“…This, in turn, triggers the demand for appropriate drug carriers that can be effectively loaded with these drugs and protect them until they are administered and delivered. Although great progress has been made in the development of new drug carriers, including weak polyelectrolyte complex systems, in recent years [ 167 , 168 , 169 ], there are still systems such as water-insoluble drugs that these strategies fail to encapsulate efficiently [ 170 ].…”