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Polyethylenimine‐Based Nanogels for Biomedical Applications
Author(s) -
Zou Yu,
Li Du,
Shen Mingwu,
Shi Xiangyang
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.201900272
Subject(s) - polyethylenimine , amphiphile , nanotechnology , polymer , gene delivery , homogeneous , chemistry , drug delivery , combinatorial chemistry , materials science , copolymer , genetic enhancement , organic chemistry , gene , biochemistry , transfection , thermodynamics , physics
Nanogels (NGs) are 3‐dimensional (3D) networks composed of hydrophilic or amphiphilic polymer chains, allowing for effective and homogeneous encapsulation of drugs, genes, or imaging agents for biomedical applications. Polyethylenimine (PEI), possessing abundant positively charged amine groups, is an ideal platform for the development of NGs. A variety of effective PEI‐based NGs have been designed and much effort has been devoted to study the relationship between the structure and function of the NGs. In particular, PEI‐based NGs can be prepared either using PEI as the major NG component or using PEI as a crosslinker. This review reports the recent progresses in the design of PEI‐based NGs for gene and drug delivery and for bioimaging applications with a target focus to tackle the diagnosis and therapy of cancer.