Advances in non-covalent crosslinked polymer micelles for biomedical applications

Abstract

As a drug delivery system, crosslinked polymer micelles can reduce the drug release in advance in the blood circulation, improve the stability of polymer micelles, effectively deliver drugs to the treatment site, further improve the bioavailability of drugs and reduce the side effects. Among them, non-covalent crosslinked polymer micelles have the advantages of sensitive response to external stimuli, self-healing after damage, and no need to use chemicals for crosslinking. This review mainly introduces the research progress of polymer micelles crosslinked by hydrogen bonding, dipole interaction, hydrophobic interaction, host-guest interaction, π-π stacking, and metal coordination reported in recent years, and summarizes the applications of these micelles in biomedical fields such as drug delivery, gene transfection, and imaging.

Keywords: Crosslinking; Drug delivery; Non-covalent bonds; Polymer micelles.