title: Elastin-like polypeptide based nanoparticles: design rationale toward nanomedicine.
abstract: Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are characterized by a high sequence control, temperature responsiveness and biocompatibility, which make them highly interesting as smart materials for application in nanomedicine. In particular the construction of ELP-based nanoparticles has recently become a focal point of attention in materials research. This review will give an overview of the ELP-based nanoparticles that have been developed until now and their underlying design principles. First a short introduction on ELPs and their stimulus-responsive behavior will be given. This characteristic has been applied for the development of ELP-based block copolymers that can self-assemble into nanoparticles. Both the fully ELP-based as well as several ELP hybrid materials that have been reported to form nanoparticles will be discussed, which is followed by a concise description of the promising biomedical applications reported for this class of materials.
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525, AJ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ferdinanda C M
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Smits
authors.forename: Bastiaan C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Buddingh
authors.forename: Mark B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: van Eldijk
authors.forename: Jan C M
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: van Hest
mesh_terms: D015195:Drug Design; D004549:Elastin / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D010452:Peptide Biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D004549:Elastin
keywords: block copolymers; elastin-like polypeptides; nanomedicine; nanoparticles