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Micelles have been studied as drug delivery carriers for decades. Their use can potentially result in high drug accumulation at the target site through the enhanced permeability and retention effect. Nevertheless, the lack of stability of micelles in the physiological environment limits their efficacy as a drug carrier. In particular, micelles tend to disassociate and prematurely release the encapsulated drugs, lowering delivery efficacy and creating toxicity concerns. Many efforts to enhance the stability of micelles have focused mainly on decreasing the critical micelle forming concentration and improving blood circulation. Herein, we review different strategies including crosslinking and non-crosslinking approaches designed to stabilize micelles and offer perspectives on future research directions.

Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 22 May 2018
Revised: 10 July 2018
Accepted: 13 July 2018
Published: 01 August 2018
Issue date: October 2018

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR-1410853) and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (DP2DK111910).

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