Block copolymer micelles are generally formed by the self-assembly of either amphiphilic or oppositely charged copolymers in aqueous medium. The hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks form the corona and the core of the micelles, respectively. The presence of a nonionic water-soluble shell as well as the scale (10-100 nm) of polymeric micelles are expected to restrict their uptake by the mononuclea...

Giant and stable worm micelles formed from poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based diblock copolymer amphiphiles have the potential advantage compared to smaller assemblies for delivery of a large quantity of hydrophobic drugs or dyes per carrier. Here we show that worm micelles can be targeted to cells with internalization and delivery of nontoxic dyes as well as cytotoxic drugs. Constituent copolym...

For the treatment of malignancy, many therapeutic agents, including small molecules, photosensitizers, immunomodulators, proteins and genes, and so forth, have been loaded into nanocarriers for controllable cancer therapy. Among these nanocarriers, polymeric micelles have been considered as one of the most promising nanocarriers, some of which have already been applied in different stages of cl...

A mixed micelle that comprised of monomethylol poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactic acid) (MPP), D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) and stearic acid grafted chitosan oligosaccharide(CSO-SA) copolymers was developed to enhance the oral absorption of docetaxel (DTX). DTX-loaded MPP/TPGS/CSO-SA mixed polymeric micelles (MPMs) were prepared with thin film hydration method and...

A mixed polymeric micelle formulation of paclitaxel (PTX) has been developed with the purpose of improving the solubility and prolonging the time of blood circulation of PTX in comparison to current Taxol injection. The mixed micelles were prepared by thin-film method using a nonionic surfactant Pluronic P105, L101 and PTX. The mean size of PTX-loaded mixed micelles was 185 nm with narrow size ...

The inclusion complexation between beta-CD (beta-cyclodextrin) and adamantyl group (ADA) is used as a driving force in constructing polymeric micelles. The micelles composed of a hydrophobic core of PtBA-ADA and a hydrophilic shell of PGMA-CD show unique properties due to the presence of beta-CDs on the micellar surface. The micelles can be converted to hollow spheres of PGMA-CD networks. The h...

Systematic review of experimental and clinical data on the use of curcumin in the treatment of osteosarcoma is presented. The current status of curcumin's therapeutic potential against bone cancer is analyzed in regard to using polymeric micelles (including recently developed invertible, responsive, micelles) as a platform for curcumin delivery to treat osteosarcoma. The potential of micellar a...

Biodegradable polymeric nanomaterials can be directly broken down by intracellular processes, offering a desirable way to solve toxicity issues for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Among them, aliphatic polycarbonates are approved for application in biological fields by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, high hydrophobicity, deficient functionality and improper degrad...

Self-assembled polymeric micelles have been widely applied in drug delivery systems. In this study, we found that pH value of micellar system solution was the decisive factor of physical stability. Furthermore, the weak basic solution could maintain the solution clarification for a relative long time. To investigate the stability of polymeric micelles in different pH solutions, the micellar par...

"Grafting to" polymeric nanostructures or surfaces is a simple and versatile approach to achieve functionalization. Herein, we describe the formation of mixed polymer-grafted nanoparticles through a supramolecular "grafting to" method that exploits multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions between the thymine (T)-containing cores of preformed micelles and the complementary nucleobase adenine (A) o...