Recently, shell cross-linked polymeric micelles have attracted tremendous interest as drug carriers due to their remarkable benefits. In their paper, Zhang and co-workers designed a novel PEG-polypeptide hybrid copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(L-cysteine)-b-poly(L-phenylalanine) (PEG-b-PCys-b-PPhe), able to: i) self-assemble in aqueous solutions into highly stable core–shell–corona micelles and ii) self-cross-link by the oxidation of thiol groups in the PCys segments. It was shown that these nanoconstructs could be helpful to reduce the drug loss in the extracellular environment and that they could be easily uptaken by HeLa cells, suggesting they may have great potential in intracellular drug delivery.
Redox-sensitive shell cross-linked PEG–polypeptide hybrid micelles for controlled drug release by Kang Wang, Guo-Feng Luo, Yun Liu, Cao Li, Si-Xue Cheng, Ren-Xi Zhuo and Xian-Zheng Zhang Polym. Chem. 2012, 3, 1084-1090.
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