Supramolecular drug-delivery systems based on polymeric core-shell architectures

Hitting the target: Although the cellular uptake of supramolecular nanocarriers by endocytosis is not cell-specific, a high passive selectivity has been observed in porous tissues, such as tumor tissue. The encapsulated, often toxic, drug is efficiently shielded and can develop its activity by selective release from the nanocarrier upon a shift of the pH value in the tumor tissue or inside the cell (see scheme).