Recent advances in stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles: Via click chemistry

Stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles have served as an emerging and interesting platform for poorly soluble drug delivery towards cancer therapy in response to exogenous stimuli (variations in temperature, light, electric field, magnetic field, or ultrasound intensity) and endogenous stimuli (changes in pH, enzyme concentration, or redox gradients). Click chemistry, an attractive synthetic methodology for conjugation, has emerged in nearly all fields of current chemistry including the construction of stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles. Here we summarize a number of pioneering studies in the area of stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles via click chemistry and divide them into six major sections in view of stimulus types (temperature, light, ultrasound, pH, enzymes, and redox). The design, synthesis, and biomedical applications of stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles via click chemistry are highlighted. Recent achievements and further perspectives in this area are briefly discussed as well.