title: Biodegradable long-circulating polymeric nanospheres.
abstract: Injectable nanoparticulate carriers have important potential applications such as site-specific drug delivery or medical imaging. Conventional carriers, however, cannot generally be used because they are eliminated by the reticulo-endothelial system within seconds or minutes after intravenous injection. To address these limitations, monodisperse biodegradable nanospheres were developed from amphiphilic copolymers composed of two biocompatible blocks. The nanospheres exhibited dramatically increased blood circulation times and reduced liver accumulation in mice. Furthermore, they entrapped up to 45 percent by weight of the drug in the dense core in a one-step procedure and could be freeze-dried and easily redispersed without additives in aqueous solutions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gref
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Minamitake
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Peracchia
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Trubetskoy
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Torchilin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D004339:Drug Compounding; D005612:Freeze Drying; D019344:Lactic Acid; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008863:Microspheres; D011091:Polyesters; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011108:Polymers
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D004337:Drug Carriers; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; C016240:polycaprolactone; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D008012:Lidocaine