Bioeliminable nanohydrogels for drug delivery.

Abstract

One of the most significant obstacles for systematic delivery of nanopayloads is the foreign particle clearance by the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS). The majority of biocompatible nanopayloads with charged groups on their surface cannot fully evade the clearance by MPS during systemic circulation. For safe and effective targeted nanodrug delivery in vivo, we describe a novel approach for evading the macrophage clearance. We demonstrate that neutral and hydrophilic materials can effectively evade the macrophage uptake and also quickly degrade into bioeliminable fragments. We show that there is no opsonization effect and no toxic effect on living cells. In addition, the payloads are stable in an aqueous environment, and they can release drugs in a cellular environment. These results suggest that the unique properties of this kind of payloads may make them useful for designing new drug delivery systems.