| Nanometer-sized polymeric drug carriers have been extensively explored in drug delivery for cancer chemotherapy due to their therapeutic advantages of few side effects and enhanced efficacy. The nanocarriers developed to date, however, still have drawbacks including low stability, short blood circulation time, slow cellular internalization, and not sufficient high therapeutic efficiency in cancer thermotherapy.;To this end, this dissertation is focused on rational design and synthesis of functional carriers including charge-reversal nanocarriers, core-conjugated nanoparticles and dendrimers, drug-conjugated rod- and fiber-like nanoparticles, and biodegradable polymeric conjugates. These drug carriers were functionalized in terms of surface charge, size, shape and materials for high stability with controlled degradability and well-controlled drug release, good stealthy properties for prolonged blood circulation time, fast cell internalization and nuclear targeted drug delivery for improved anticancer activity. These drug nanocarriers are promising for cancer chemotherapy. |
