Dynamic effects of organic molecules for drug delivery in micelles

Recent years have witnessed the expansion of newer technologies and intricate pathways in drug delivery systems (DDS) to offer efficient therapeutic response. To achieve maximum output, drugs and pro-drug molecules have been systematically developed over the years. However, many compounds fail to offer maximum curative response when delivered through the blood stream. There are several factors that can be responsible for this failure: poor water solubility, low stability, nonbiocompatibility, or molecules acting on non-target areas. Increasing drug dosage often helps to counteract these problems; however, this may provoke unwanted toxicity (side-effects). Significant contributions to DDS stem from selfassembled micro- or nanostructures that enable active site-specific targeting along with sustained release of drug molecules. Generally, with DDS, the drug molecules are encapsulated in biocompatible macromolecules, termed as “carriers,” which deliver specific amount of drug to targeted sites for the stipulated period of time. Hence, different transporter materials are constantly developed to overcome the inefficiencies of drugs. Micelle-based carriers are widely utilized due to their unique core/shell structure, where the hydrophobic drugs solubilize within the nonpolar core, and the polar head groups confer hydrophilicity to the system. In this chapter, we discuss various methods of sequestration of organic molecules by surfactants, liposomes, reverse micelles, drug loading and sustained release, and finally, the applications of targeted drug delivery.