Amphiphilic poly(2-oxazoline) copolymers as self-assembled carriers for drug delivery applications.

The potential of poly(2-oxazoline) containing copolymers for drug delivery is discussed in this feature article. Advances in synthetic routes for 2-oxazoline copolymerization and chemical modification of biocompatible poly(2-oxazoline) copolymers allow the control of amphiphilic poly(2-oxazoline) copolymers at the molecular level. Thus macromolecular design dictates self-organization of poly(2-oxazoline) copolymers at the nano-scale into morphologically diverse, functional nanostructures in aqueous solutions, able to respond to changes caused by external stimuli and showing fine-tuned interactions, loading and release properties of encapsulated hydrophobic drugs and biological macromolecules. The latest advances in the use of poly(2-oxazoline) containing copolymers as carriers of hydrophobic drugs, therapeutic proteins/peptides and nucleic acids are presented through representative examples from recent literature. It can be safely concluded that nanocarriers based on poly(2-oxazoline) containing block copolymers show a great potential for applications in the biomedical field in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]