Micellar Nanocontainers Distribute to Defined Cytoplasmic Organelles

Abstract

Block copolymer micelles are water-soluble biocompatible nanocontainers with great potential for delivering hydrophobic drugs. An understanding of their cellular distribution is essential to achieving selective delivery of drugs at the subcellular level. Triple-labeling confocal microscopy in live cells revealed the localization of micelles in several cytoplasmic organelles, including mitochondria, but not in the nucleus. Moreover, micelles change the cellular distribution of and increase the amount of the agent delivered to the cells. These micelles may thus be worth exploring for their potential to selectively deliver drugs to specified subcellular targets.

Hydroxypropyl-β-Cyclodextrin Copolymers and Their Nanoparticles as Doxorubicin Delivery System

“…During the measurement, HP-$-CD was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-d6 and HP-$-CD-PLA-DPPE copolymers were dissolved in CdCl 3 .…”

“…1,2 The size of micelles permits their extravasation and accumulation in a variety of pathological sites, where the permeability of the vascular endothelium is increased, such as infarct zones and tumors. [3][4][5][6] This fact provides a unique opportunity for physiology-based targeting of drugs and/ or drug-loaded pharmaceutical carriers, such as micelles, to these pathological areas via the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR; or "passive" targeting) effect. 7,8 An additional advantage of micelles as drug carriers, from the practical application view, is that they are easy to prepare on a large scale.…”

Polymeric micelle-based bioassay with femtomolar sensitivity

“…Upon micellization, the hydrophobic blocks interact with each other and form the core of the micelle while the hydrophilic blocks stay in contact with water to form the corona [3]. The shape and the size of the polymeric micelles are influenced by: 1) the copolymer chains size and chemical nature 2) The type of the solvent used to dissolve the copolymer and 3) the critical micelle concentrations of the copolymer [4,5,6]. Since polymeric micelles can solubilize poorly watersoluble drugs and have a long circulation time in blood as compared to other types of delivery systems, these vesicles are promising candidates for the next generation of drug carriers with targeted and controllable drug release [7].…”

Nanomedicine in the diagnosis and therapy of neurodegenerative disorders

“…A new generation of nanomedicines has emerged, which uses novel self-assembled nanomaterials for drug and gene delivery [116][117][118][119][120][121][122]. Examples include polymeric micelles [118,[123][124][125][126], DNA/polycation complexes ("polyplexes") [127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135], block ionomer complexes [116,[136][137][138][139], nanogels [140][141][142][143][144] and others.…”

“…Examples include polymeric micelles [118,[123][124][125][126], DNA/polycation complexes ("polyplexes") [127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135], block ionomer complexes [116,[136][137][138][139], nanogels [140][141][142][143][144] and others. Of these materials, polymeric micelles have been evaluated in human trials for the delivery of anti-cancer agents [145][146][147][148][149].…”