ENHANCING THE STABILITY AND SELECTIVITY OF NANOCARRIERS BY DIMERIZATION OF THEIR BUILDING BLOCKS

Enzyme-responsive micelles have great potential as drug delivery platforms due to the high selectivity and overexpression of disease-associated enzymes. Recently we have reported on enzyme-responsive amphiphilic block copolymers composed of a hydrophilic PEG block and a dendron with enzymatically cleavable lipophilic end-groups as the hydrophobic block. These amphiphilic hybrids formed micellar structures in aqueous environment which were disassembled upon enzymatic activation. When examining the properties of micelles, it is clear that one of the biggest challenges is the risk of their fast dilution and disassembly in the body. Reversible cross-linking of the micelles could increase their stability and prevent their spontaneous disassembly in the body. Furthermore, the cross-linking allows the introduction of a second types of stimuli-responsive groups, resulting in nanocarriers that require activation by both types of stimuli. Such smart amphiphilic hybrids are promising materials for the design of advanced nanocarriers with increased stability and selectivity for biomedical delivery applications.