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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Pankaj Singla, Dr Jake McClementsORCiD, Dr Ollie Jamieson, Professor Marloes PeetersORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
Pluronic (PEO-PPO-PEO) block copolymers can form nano-sized micelles with a structure composed of a hydrophobic PPO core and hydrophilic PEO shell layer. Pluronics are U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved polymers, which are widely used for solubilization of drugs and their delivery, gene/therapeutic delivery, diagnostics, and tissue engineering applications due to their non-ionic properties, non-toxicity, micelle forming ability, excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. Although Pluronics have been employed as drug carrier systems for several decades, numerous issues such as rapid dissolution, shorter residence time in biological media, fast clearance and weak mechanical strength have hindered their efficacy. Pluronics have been functionalized with pH-sensitive, biological-responsive moieties, antibodies, aptamers, folic acid, drugs, different nanoparticles, and photo/thermo-responsive hydrogels. These functionalization strategies enable Pluronics to act as stimuli responsive and targeted drug delivery vehicles. Moreover, Pluronics have emerged in nano-emulsion formulations and have been utilized to improve the properties of cubosomes, dendrimers and nano-sheets, including their biocompatibility and aqueous solubility. Functionalization of Pluronics results in the significant improvement of target specificity, loading capacity, biocompatibility of nanoparticles and stimuli responsive hydrogels for the promising delivery of a range of drugs. Therefore, this review presents an overview of all advancements (from the last 15 years) in functionalized Pluronics, providing a valuable tool for industry and academia in order to optimize their use in drug or therapeutic delivery, in addition to several other biomedical applications.
Author(s): Singla P, Garg S, McClements J, Jamieson O, Peeters M, Mahajan R
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Advances in Colloid and Interface Science
Year: 2022
Volume: 299
Online publication date: 18/11/2021
Acceptance date: 18/11/2021
ISSN (print): 0001-8686
ISSN (electronic): 1873-3727
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2021.102563
DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2021.102563
