Biomedical applications of pH-responsive amphiphilic polymer nanoassemblies

Abstract

In recent years, polymer nanoassemblies have played an important role in the biopharmaceuticals field. Polymers that form different molecular architectures during a self-assembly process are widely used for a large number of biomedical applications, including as drug carriers, imaging agents, and drug reservoirs, thereby providing a local therapeutic effect. The size and shape of these nanoassemblies play vital roles in cell penetration. Importantly, stimuli-responsive behaviors, particularly pH responses, make these systems highly suitable vehicles for drug, gene, and protein delivery applications. This platform can be used for precise control over polymer assembly behavior under diverse pH conditions. In this Review, we discuss the pH-responsive behavior of a wide variety of amphiphilic homopolymers and block and random copolymers that form a sample range of nanoaggregates due to the self-assembly of hydrophilic−hydrophobic building blocks.