Polymersomes: Soft Nanoparticles from Miktoarm Stars for Applications in Drug Delivery

Self-assembly of amphiphilic macromolecules has provided an advantageousplatform to address significant issues in a variety of areas, including biology. Such softnanoparticles with a hydrophobic core and hydrophilic corona, referred to as micelles, havebeen extensively investigated for delivering lipophilic therapeutics by physical encapsulation.Polymeric vesicles or polymersomes with similarities in morphology to liposomes continue toplay an essential role in understanding the behavior of cell membranes and, in addition, haveoffered opportunities in designing smart nanoformulations. With the evolution in syntheticmethodologies to macromolecular precursors, the construction of such assemblies can now bemodulated to tailor their properties to match desired needs. This review brings into focus thecurrent state-of-the-art in the design of polymersomes using amphiphilic miktoarm starpolymers through a detailed analysis of the synthesis of miktoarm star polymers with tunedlengths of varied polymeric arms, their self-assembly, and applications in drug delivery.