Thermoresponsive Nanodevices in Biomedical Applications

Abstract

In the last couple of decades several drug carriers have been tailored on the nanometric scale by taking advantage of new stimuli responsive materials. Thermoresponsive polymers in particular have been extensively employed as stimuli-responsive building blocks that in combination with other environmental-responsive materials allowed the birth of smarter systems that can respond to more than one stimulus. Examples that highlight the different polymers for thermally triggered drug delivery will be described. A special emphasis will be given to the description of novel theranostic nanodevices that combine more than one responsive modality in order to create a local hyperthermia that leads to the polymer phase transition and triggered drug release, cell recognition, and/or appearance of an imaging signal.

Multifunctional hybrid nanogels for theranostic applications

“…2,3 A shared characteristic of commercialized nanomaterials for clinical use is that they are typically designed for only one specific application (either diagnosis or therapy), and a vast majority of them are only developed to look for an improvement in the drug dosage or pharmaceutical efficacy. 2,3 A shared characteristic of commercialized nanomaterials for clinical use is that they are typically designed for only one specific application (either diagnosis or therapy), and a vast majority of them are only developed to look for an improvement in the drug dosage or pharmaceutical efficacy.…”

Shell Cross‐Linked Polymeric Micelles as Camptothecin Nanocarriers for Anti‐HCV Therapy

“…The observed size variation with temperature confirmed that the nanoparticles display thermosensitive behavior, provided by Pluronic‐F127. This temperature‐dependent feature should also help to validate these CLPMs as suitable candidates for responsive drug carriers …”

“…This temperature-dependent feature should also help to validate these CLPMs as suitable candidates for responsive drug carriers. [18]…”

“…In order to prevent fast release of the fluorescent probe from the CLPMs during the experiment time, a newly designed Rho-B fluorescent probe [Rho-B-2C 18 ], which contains a hydrophobic block that confers it negligible solubility in water, was designed ( Figure 4d). Rho-B-2C 18 was synthesized by copper-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar azide-alkyne cycloaddition between an azide derivative of rhodamine-B and a first generation bis-MPA dendron functionalized by esterification of the hydroxyl groups with stearic acid.…”

Optimizing Circulating Tumor Cells’ Capture Efficiency of Magnetic Nanogels by Transferrin Decoration

“…Moreover, the combination of inorganic nanoparticles with interesting physical properties can be incorporated into the nanogel network. For example, magnetic particles can be combined into a nanogel matrix forming magnetic nanogels (MNG) [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35].…”