Systemic gene delivery, polymeric micelle

The nonionic triblock copolymer polyethylene oxide-polypropylene oxide polyethylene oxide (PEO-PPO-PEO) has been widely used in medicine and has shown low toxicity. Wanka et al. [91] studied aggregation behavior of PEO-PPO-PEO polymeric micelles. In this study, the hydrophobic core of this micellar system consisted of dehydrated poly(oxy-propylene) groups which were surrounded by an outer shell of hydrated poly(oxyethylene) groups. The feasibility of using PEO-PPO PEO micelles as a topical ocular carrier for gene delivery was addressed in an in vivo study on nude mice and albino rabbits [92], Each animal eye was treated with a topical application (10 pL for mouse and 50 pL for rabbit) of 0.08 mg/mL of plasmid and 0.3% (w/v) PEO-PPO-PEO polymeric micelles. After 2 days of three times per day topical delivery, the reporter expression was detected in the treated eyes... 

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... 

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. 

Kataoka, K. (2004) Smart polymeric micelles as nanocarriers for gene and drug delivery. Mems, NANO and smart systems. ICMENS 2004. Proceedings on 2004 International Conference on, 25-27 August 2004, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 4-5. 

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