Stimuli-responsive Hybrid Polymeric Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug Delivery

Abstract

Designing polymeric nanoparticle responding to various stimuli is a promising field in medical applications. A combination of various triggers and polymeric nanoparticles creates unique and smart therapeutic materials. Surface modification of polymeric nanoparticles sensing various chemical and physical signals of the human body is one key aspect towards building up site-specific drug delivery vehicles. Although, several reports of targeted drug delivery systems are existing it is quite unfortunate that only a few particles are able to reach the affected tissues. Most of the preclinical trials exploit the enhanced permeation and retention effect, but then again this strategy is questionable in the case of clinical applications. So far most of the drug delivery systems reported has extremely intricate designs which may perhaps be possible to hinder the cost-effective and scaled-up production. Likewise, the other factors that can affect the success ratio towards medical applications may include toxicity of the nanomaterials, weak stability, high drug loading ability, poor degradability, and inadequate biocompatibility. In the future, creating designs by considering and rectifying the aforementioned factors will certainly elevate the stimuli-responsive nanoparticles towards clinical acceptance.