The development of stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles for effective delivery of chemotherapeutic agents

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles, a novel category of polymeric micelles with response to endogenous or exogenous environments, show variable physicochemical properties as the variation of endogenous or exogenous circumstances. Because of differences between tumour tissues and normal tissues in physicochemical properties and sensitivity to variation of endogenous or exogenous environments, the application of chemotherapeutic agents loaded stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles are regarded as promising strategies for tumour treatment. In this article, the recent developments of chemotherapeutic agents loaded stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles, for example the preparation of novel stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles and the research progresses of action mechanisms of chemotherapeutic agents loaded micelles, were reviewed and discussed in detail. The advantages of stimuli-responsive chemotherapeutic agents loaded polymeric micelles in practical tumour treatment were also illustrated with the assistance of examples of stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles for antitumor agents delivery.

Keywords:

• Chemotherapeutic agents
• drug delivery
• polymeric micelles
• stimuli-responsive
• tumour treatment

Disclosure statement

This article has not been published elsewhere and it has not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere. All authors have read and approved to submit it to your journal. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (No. ZR2015HM032).