Thermosensitive self-assemblies: A review on structural and application aspects centred at drug delivery

Self-assembled systems are formed by spontaneous arrangement of molecular units into nano-scaled structures with diverse morphologies. Spontaneity of formation makes these structures attractive in drug delivery and other biomedical applications. Thermosensitive self-assemblies consist of materials capable of exhibiting changes in their properties in response to changes in the temperature of microenvironment. Essentially, it happens owing to alteration in hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interactions, and molecular motions in the local region. In this review, we have discussed phase transition in polymers, peptides and lipid-based systems. The literature suggests that transition temperature of these components can be modulated through changes in block arrangement, block length and branching, the nature of hydrophobic/hydrophilic segments, concentration and incorporation of organic additives. Finally, we have reviewed the application of thermosensitive assemblies in drug delivery.