Near-Critical Micellization for Nanomedicine: Enhanced Drug Loading, Reduced Burst Release

Abstract

Micelles, a self-assembled formation of diblock copolymer chains, have been shown to have utility for delivery of highly hydrophobic drugs. 1-5 This is due to their ability to solubilize these drugs into the core of the micelle, thereby increasing the effective dose of drug available for delivery, and to target cancer cells via the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect. 6-8 In most conventional methods, such diblock micelles are formed by first dissolving the copolymer in a nonselective solvent, such as acetone. Then, micelle formation is induced by the slow addition of a selective solvent, such as water. Finally, the micelles are removed and purified by freeze drying, solvent evaporation, or dialysis. 8-11 However, there are problems associated with such methods,