DUAL STIMULI-RESPONSIVE POLYMERIC MICELLES AS A MODULAR PLATFORM FOR CONTROLLED DELIVERY

Stimuli responsive micelles are highly attractive platforms for encapsulation of hydrophobic drugs or dyes, which can be loaded into the hydrophobic core of the micelles and released upon specific stimuli. Most reported systems showed that different types of stimuli such as pH changes, light and temperature could cause the disassembly of the micelles. More recently, others and we have reported the utilization of enzymatic stimuli to induce the disassembly of enzyme-responsive micelles. In this work, we demonstrate the incorporation of two different responsive groups that can respond to two different types of stimuli. Combining two stimuli can lead to higher degree of activation and to increase the efficiency of the drug delivery system. Furthermore, the utilization of two different responsive groups can open the way for greater control over the release profile of the delivery system.