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Recent advances in aliphatic polyesters for drug delivery applications
Author(s) -
Washington Katherine E.,
Kularatne Ruvanthi N.,
Karmegam Vasanthy,
Biewer Michael C.,
Stefan Mihaela C.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1939-0041
pISSN - 1939-5116
DOI - 10.1002/wnan.1446
Subject(s) - polyester , drug delivery , biocompatibility , nanotechnology , amphiphile , materials science , polymersome , nanomaterials , polymer , biodegradation , drug carrier , copolymer , organic chemistry , chemistry , composite material , metallurgy
The use of aliphatic polyesters in drug delivery applications has been a field of significant interest spanning decades. Drug delivery strategies have made abundant use of polyesters in their structures owing to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. The properties afforded from these materials provide many avenues for the tunability of drug delivery systems to suit individual needs of diverse applications. Polyesters can be formed in several different ways, but the most prevalent is the ring‐opening polymerization of cyclic esters. When used to form amphiphilic block copolymers, these materials can be utilized to form various drug carriers such as nanoparticles, micelles, and polymersomes. These drug delivery systems can be tailored through the addition of targeting moieties and the addition of stimuli‐responsive groups into the polymer chains. There are also different types of polyesters that can be used to modify the degradation rates or mechanical properties. Here, we discuss the reasons that polyesters have become so popular, the current research focuses, and what the future holds for these materials in drug delivery applications. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2017, 9:e1446. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1446 This article is categorized under: Implantable Materials and Surgical Technologies > Nanomaterials and Implants