Abstract
Polymeric micelles (PMs) are nanosized core-shell molecules formed by the self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers. Their unique morphologies, biocompatibility have allowed them to serve as drug carriers and have found wide applications in the pharmaceutical industry. This review summarizes the recent progress of PM development and its applications in the pharmaceutical field. Firstly, we discussed the fundamentals of polymeric micelles, the formation mechanism, and their relative morphologies. Then we listed various common synthetic methods, including the solvent-free method, solvent-switch method, microfluid method, etc. Secondly, we illustrated the application of polymeric micelles in pharmaceutical applications on targeting, imaging, and stimuli-responsive drug release. In the end, we summarize the fundamental aspect of how to prepare polymeric micelles, their resulting morphology, and their applications in the medical field. Finally, we provide insights into polymeric micelles’ future developments on their longer shelf life and better environmental adaptability.
Highlights
Polymeric micelles (PMs) are nanosized polymer capsules with membranes generally considered to have a hydrophobic bilayer structure similar to phospholipids [1]
We summarized the recent progress of synthesis and applications of these PMs
We further introduced synthetic methods, which are an important subject in the study of polymer vesicles
Summary
Polymeric micelles (PMs) are nanosized polymer capsules with membranes generally considered to have a hydrophobic bilayer structure similar to phospholipids [1]. We summarized the recent progress of synthesis and applications of these PMs. We first discuss the basic definition of polymeric micelles, followed by their formation mechanism and relative morphology. This review will introduce some other new technologies in recent years, including PISA (Polymerization-induced self-assembly) [3,4,5,6]. Several pharmaceutical applications of PMs would be discussed in this review. The most important contribution is its applications as drug carriers due to its high similarity to cell membranes. The review will discuss several stimulusresponsive PMs used as drug carriers in detail
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