Premium
Nanoengineered Polymer Capsules: Tools for Detection, Controlled Delivery, and Site‐Specific Manipulation
Author(s) -
Sukhorukov Gleb B.,
Rogach Andrey L.,
Zebli Bernd,
Liedl Tim,
Skirtach Andre G.,
Köhler Karen,
Antipov Alexei A.,
Gaponik Nikolai,
Susha Andrei S.,
Winterhalter Mathias,
Parak Wolfgang J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.200400075
Subject(s) - drug delivery , nanotechnology , prodrug , materials science , polymer , supramolecular chemistry , combinatorial chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , molecule , biochemistry , composite material
Abstract We present the concept of multifunctional nanoengineered polymer capsules and outline their applications as new drug delivery systems or supramolecular toolboxes containing, for example, enzymes capable of converting nontoxic prodrugs into toxic drugs at a designated location. Such functionalized nanocontainers offer a wide range of applications including enzymatic catalysis, controlled release, and directed drug delivery in medicine due to their multifunctionality. The unique advantage of capsules in comparison to other systems is that they can be functionalized or loaded simultaneously with the above‐mentioned components, thus permitting multifunctional processes in single cells.