Functionalized Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Based Microgels in Tumor Targeting and Drug Delivery

Over the past several decades, the development of engineered small particles as targeted and drug delivery systems (TDDS) has received great attention thanks to the possibility to overcome the limitations of classical cancer chemotherapy, including targeting incapability, nonspecific action and, consequently, systemic toxicity. Thus, this research aims at using a novel design of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) p(NIPAM)-based microgels to specifically target cancer cells and avoid the healthy ones, which is expected to decrease or eliminate the side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs. Smart NIPAM-based microgels were functionalized with acrylic acid and coupled to folic acid (FA), targeting the f…