title: pH-responsive polymer-drug conjugates: Design and progress.
abstract: Polymer-drug conjugates are becoming established as a shining platform for drug delivery. Incorporation of pH-responsive linker between drug and polymer is expected to realize triggered release of bioactive agents from conjugates in specific sites, either in mildly acidic extracellular matrices of tumor tissues or, after cellular internalization, in acidic endosomes and lysosomes. As an emerging drug delivery system, such pH-responsive polymer-drug conjugates are able to selectively deliver and activate drug molecules while reducing their systemic side-effects. In this review, we present the recent advances in pH-responsive polymer-drug conjugates with different chemical structures and architectures, and attempt to clarify their mechanism of action, synthesis and characterization technology. Furthermore, several promising approaches for the future will also be suggested.
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Qicai
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Albert Wingnang
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Heyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong. Electronic address: csxu@cuhk.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Chuanshan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D015195:Drug Design; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D011108:Polymers
keywords: Drug delivery system; Polymer–drug conjugates; Tumor targeting; pH-responsive