Abstract
Thermoresponsive polymers are known to exhibit switchable soluble/insoluble properties across their phase transition temperatures in aqueous media. In the past quarter century, intelligent biomaterials have been molecularly designed by introduction of thermoresponsive polymers on/into material interfaces and bioactive molecules. In drug delivery fields, the thermoresponsive polymeric materials are also actively studied to enhance drug activity and reduce side effects of drugs. In this review, the author summarizes properties of various thermoresponsive polymers, and introduces the thermoresponsive polymeric materials for drug modulation and site-specific targeting, for example, intelligent hydrogels with thermally modulated drug release and nano-scaled drug carriers for cancer chemotherapy.
