title: pH-sensitive vesicles, polymeric micelles, and nanospheres prepared with polycarboxylates.
abstract: Titratable polyanions, and more particularly polymers bearing carboxylate groups, have been used in recent years to produce a variety of pH-sensitive colloids. These polymers undergo a coil-to-globule conformational change upon a variation in pH of the surrounding environment. This conformational change can be exploited to trigger the release of a drug from a drug delivery system in a pH-dependent fashion. This review describes the current status of pH-sensitive vesicles, polymeric micelles, and nanospheres prepared with polycarboxylates and their performance as nano-scale drug delivery systems, with emphasis on our recent contribution to this field.
authors: Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
authors: Arnaud E
authors: AE
authors: Felber
authors: Marie-Hélène
authors: MH
authors: Dufresne
authors: Jean-Christophe
authors: JC
authors: Leroux
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008081:Liposomes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D008823:Micelles; D054118:Nanospheres / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D008081:Liposomes; D008823:Micelles; D011108:Polymers