ABSTRACT
The preparation and physicochemical properties of several distinct classes of polymeric nanoparticles have been presented in Chapters 2 through 4. This chapter focuses on present and potential biological applications of polymer-containing nanoparticles and nanoassemblies with emphasis given to drug and gene delivery nanocarriers, imaging and diagnostics, and others. The general ideas and principles that allow the use of different polymeric nanoparticles according to the specic application are also briey discussed. The focus is placed on polymeric nanostructures and nanocolloids that their potential applications have been demonstrated already to a signicant degree. There are a number of excellent reviews discussing the applications of polymeric nanoparticles, especially of block copolymer micelles and other self-assembled structures, on drug delivery (Kwon and Forrest 2006, Wiradharma et al. 2009, Du et al. 2010, Horgan et al. 2010, Kedar et al. 2010, Mishra et al. 2010, Ponta and Bae 2010, Tyrrell et al. 2010, Miyata et al. 2011, Xiong et al. 2011, Wagner 2012).
