Polymersome Carriers: from Self-assembly to SiRNA and Protein Therapeutics

Overview

Journal Eur J Pharm Biopharm

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 2008 Nov 4

PMID 18977437

Citations 61

Authors

David A Christian

Shenshen Cai

Diana M Bowen

Younghoon Kim

J David Pajerowski

Dennis E Discher

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Polymersomes are polymer-based vesicular shells that form upon hydration of amphiphilic block copolymers. These high molecular weight amphiphiles impart physicochemical properties that allow polymersomes to stably encapsulate or integrate a broad range of active molecules. This robustness together with recently described mechanisms for controlled breakdown of degradable polymersomes as well as escape from endolysosomes suggests that polymersomes might be usefully viewed as having structure/property/function relationships somewhere between lipid vesicles and viral capsids. Here we summarize the assembly and development of controlled release polymersomes to encapsulate therapeutics ranging from small molecule anti-cancer drugs to siRNA and therapeutic proteins.

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