Biopolymer-Based Nanoparticles for Drug/Gene Delivery and Tissue Engineering

There has been a great interest in application of nanoparticles as biomaterials for delivery of therapeutic molecules such as drugs and genes, and for tissue engineering. In particular, biopolymers are suitable materials as nanoparticles for clinical application due to their versatile traits, includ...

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Main Authors: Keiji Numata, Sachiko Kaihara Nitta
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2013-01-01
Series:International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/14/1/1629
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spelling doaj-37b169310b944482895fc3215a57479d2020-11-25T00:38:53ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1422-00672013-01-011411629165410.3390/ijms14011629Biopolymer-Based Nanoparticles for Drug/Gene Delivery and Tissue EngineeringKeiji NumataSachiko Kaihara NittaThere has been a great interest in application of nanoparticles as biomaterials for delivery of therapeutic molecules such as drugs and genes, and for tissue engineering. In particular, biopolymers are suitable materials as nanoparticles for clinical application due to their versatile traits, including biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immunogenicity. Biopolymers are polymers that are produced from living organisms, which are classified in three groups: polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids. It is important to control particle size, charge, morphology of surface and release rate of loaded molecules to use biopolymer-based nanoparticles as drug/gene delivery carriers. To obtain a nano-carrier for therapeutic purposes, a variety of materials and preparation process has been attempted. This review focuses on fabrication of biocompatible nanoparticles consisting of biopolymers such as protein (silk, collagen, gelatin, β-casein, zein and albumin), protein-mimicked polypeptides and polysaccharides (chitosan, alginate, pullulan, starch and heparin). The effects of the nature of the materials and the fabrication process on the characteristics of the nanoparticles are described. In addition, their application as delivery carriers of therapeutic drugs and genes and biomaterials for tissue engineering are also reviewed.http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/14/1/1629biopolymernanoparticledrug deliverygene deliverybiodegradable polymer
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Keiji Numata
Sachiko Kaihara Nitta
spellingShingle Keiji Numata
Sachiko Kaihara Nitta
Biopolymer-Based Nanoparticles for Drug/Gene Delivery and Tissue Engineering
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
biopolymer
nanoparticle
drug delivery
gene delivery
biodegradable polymer
author_facet Keiji Numata
Sachiko Kaihara Nitta
author_sort Keiji Numata
title Biopolymer-Based Nanoparticles for Drug/Gene Delivery and Tissue Engineering
title_short Biopolymer-Based Nanoparticles for Drug/Gene Delivery and Tissue Engineering
title_full Biopolymer-Based Nanoparticles for Drug/Gene Delivery and Tissue Engineering
title_fullStr Biopolymer-Based Nanoparticles for Drug/Gene Delivery and Tissue Engineering
title_full_unstemmed Biopolymer-Based Nanoparticles for Drug/Gene Delivery and Tissue Engineering
title_sort biopolymer-based nanoparticles for drug/gene delivery and tissue engineering
publisher MDPI AG
series International Journal of Molecular Sciences
issn 1422-0067
publishDate 2013-01-01
description There has been a great interest in application of nanoparticles as biomaterials for delivery of therapeutic molecules such as drugs and genes, and for tissue engineering. In particular, biopolymers are suitable materials as nanoparticles for clinical application due to their versatile traits, including biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immunogenicity. Biopolymers are polymers that are produced from living organisms, which are classified in three groups: polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids. It is important to control particle size, charge, morphology of surface and release rate of loaded molecules to use biopolymer-based nanoparticles as drug/gene delivery carriers. To obtain a nano-carrier for therapeutic purposes, a variety of materials and preparation process has been attempted. This review focuses on fabrication of biocompatible nanoparticles consisting of biopolymers such as protein (silk, collagen, gelatin, β-casein, zein and albumin), protein-mimicked polypeptides and polysaccharides (chitosan, alginate, pullulan, starch and heparin). The effects of the nature of the materials and the fabrication process on the characteristics of the nanoparticles are described. In addition, their application as delivery carriers of therapeutic drugs and genes and biomaterials for tissue engineering are also reviewed.
topic biopolymer
nanoparticle
drug delivery
gene delivery
biodegradable polymer
url http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/14/1/1629
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AT sachikokaiharanitta biopolymerbasednanoparticlesfordruggenedeliveryandtissueengineering
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