Micelles drug/gene delivery systems

As described in Sec. 2, polymeric micelles that are formed through either hydrophilic-hydrophobic interaction of PEG-based block copolymers or electrostatic interaction of PE G-polycation block copolymers with negatively charged macromolecules have attracted considerable attention in the field of drug delivery and gene delivery systems, owing to their excellent biocompatibility, long blood circulation time, and nontoxicity. In this section, the preparation and the characterization of end-functionalized polymeric micelles... 

Men K, et al. (2010) A Novel Drug and Gene Co-Delivery System Based on Poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-Poly(ethylene glycol)-Poly(epsilon-caprolactone) Grafted Polyethyleneimine Micelle. J. nanosci. nanotechnol. 10 p. 7958-7964. 

Polymeric micelle systems (PMS) are made by the self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers in an aqueous enviromnent. The important features of PMS are drug solubilization, controlled drug release, and drug targeting [26]. This chapter focuses and discusses the current scenario of natural biodegradable polymeric-based nanoblends for protein and gene delivery with a special emphasis on the pharmaceutical and biomedical approaches. 

Concerning the application possibilities, block and graft copolymers micelles and their assemblies as PIC are of great practical importance. Of special interest, as outlined in this review, are amphiphilic copolymers with biocompatible and biodegradable sequences, that have obtained growing attention as controlled drug-delivery systems and as potential carriers in gene therapy. 

Kataoka, K., Smart polymeric micelles as nanocarriers for gene and siRNA delivery, in 12 International Symposium on Recent Advances in Drug Delivery Systems, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2005. 

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