Targeted Drug Delivery Using Stimuli-Responsive Polymeric Nanocarriers

Abstract

Modern nanomedicine relies on customized drug delivery technologies to boost therapeutic efficacy and reduce systemic toxicity. Stimuli-responsive polymeric nanocarriers can release therapeutic drugs in reaction to internal or external triggers, allowing spatiotemporal drug delivery control. These smart devices deliver drugs selectively using physiological cues like pH gradients, redox potential, enzyme activity, and hypoxia in sick tissues and external stimuli like temperature, magnetic fields, ultrasound, and light. Amphiphilic block copolymers, dendrimers, and hydrogels, which self-assemble into micelles, vesicles, and nanoparticles, have been designed with specific physicochemical features thanks to polymer chemistry. Active targeting ligands including antibodies, peptides, and aptamers boost site-specific accumulation and strengthen the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Stimuli-responsive polymeric nanocarriers boost drug bioavailability, diminish multidrug resistance, and improve cancer, inflammatory, and neurological disease treatment outcomes in recent preclinical and clinical trials. To implement these technologies in clinical practice, scalability, repeatability, biocompatibility, and regulatory approval must be addressed.