Polymeric vesicles in biomedical applications

Abstract

Polymeric vesicles, or polymersomes, are nano-to micrometre sized polymeric capsules with a bilayered membrane. Applications of these vesicles are foreseen in nanomedicine, in vivo imaging and drug delivery. These applications put many restrictions on the choice of polymer, the size and the surface of the vesicle. In this respect much can be learned and translated to polymersome science from lines of research with a longer history of practical knowledge such as liposomal formulation and polymer drug conjugation. The dimensions of a vesicle, such as size and shape can be controlled for polymersomes and will influence the in vivo circulation time. The surface can be adjusted to induce stealth character, or chemically modified to introduce targeting moieties. And last but not least the choice of block copolymers-the building blocks of a polymersome-can introduce features like biocompatibility, inherent or induced permeability and triggered release. In this review we will discuss the recent advances in polymersome science with regard to biomedical applications and will specifically address the abovementioned features which affect their biological behaviour.

Polyphenols delivery by polymeric materials: challenges in cancer treatment

“…Amphiphilic block copolymers, composed of a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic portion, are able to form self-assembled structures with different size and shape, including spherical micelles (Discher et al, 2000), worm-like micelles, and closed bi-or multilayer structures (Kumar et al, 2007), named polymersomes (Brinkhuis et al, 2011). Both micelles and polymersomes are promising candidate for drug delivery applications, offering some peculiar advantages.…”

Enzyme-Triggered Cargo Release from Methionine Sulfoxide Containing Copolypeptide Vesicles

“…6 Although many stimuli responsive polymer vesicles (e.g. to pH, temperature, light) have been prepared, no enzyme responsive vesicles have been reported.…”

Polyester Dendrimers: Smart Carriers for Drug Delivery

“…Polymer vesicles commonly referred to as polymersomes have recently received significant attention for biological applications [213][214][215][216][217][218][219][220][221]. Polymersomes can be readily accessed from a wide range of block copolymers and they typically exhibit much lower critical aggregation concentrations and enhanced thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities [222,223].…”