Biopolymer nontoxic

All the aforementioned advantages and several additional features apply to ELP-based macromolecular carriers. First, ELP-based carriers are thermally responsive. Second, ELP is a biopolymer and therefore is nontoxic and biodegradable. Third, the gene-based synthesis of ELP allows the creation of genetic fusions with functional peptides and proteins, such as targeting sequences. 

Most polymers are nontoxic under the normal and intended use. (Some biopolymers, such as snake venom, should not be dealt with except under very controlled conditions.) Most of the additives employed are also relatively nontoxic. Even so, care should be exercised when dealing with many of the monomers of synthetic polymers and when dealing with polymeric materials under extreme conditions such as in commercial and domestic fires. 

A biopolymer-based drug carrier designed for protein delivery must meet the following requirements. In addition to controlling the release of drug, (1) the carrier must be biocompatible and degraded products must be nontoxic, (2) the carrier must incorporate the protein in a sufficiently gentle manner to retain bioactive conformation, and (3) the carrier must be able to incorporate the protein in pharmaceutical scale [12]. 

Hydrogel micro- and nanoparticles composed of biopolymer matrixes have gained a lot of attention in recent years due to their application in drug delivery and tissue engineering [10,14,45 17], The biopolymers used for these purposes are nontoxic,... 

A novel corn seed coating agent (NCSCA) was prepared by modifying chito-san, a natural nontoxic biopolymer, trace elements and fertilizer seed treatment which resulted in a high germination percentage and yield in corn, and also showed high resistance to head smut caused by Sphacelotheca reiliana stress both under laboratory and field conditions [48]. 

Chitosan has received considerable attention as a functional biopolymer for diverse pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. It is a nontoxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable polymer. Chitosans can be formulated as nanocarriers mainly by... 

Biopolymers are polymers generated from renewable natural sources, often biodegradable and nontoxic. They can be produced by biological systems (i.e., microorganisms, plants, and animals), or chemically modified from biological starting materials (e.g., cellulose, starch, natural fats, or oils). 

Large quantities of polysaccharides are available in nature and many of them display a variety of biological functions [1 ]. There is an abundance of literature on the isolation of bioactive polysaccharides from botanical sources [1-5]. This area of research has attracted a lot of interest due to the fact that most of the bioactive polysaccharides are nontoxic with minimal side effects [4,5]. Hence, this class of biopolymers forms ideal candidates for therapeutic applications. Some of the notable bioactivities of botanical polysaccharides include antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and antitumor properties [4-10]. However, the mechanism of action of these biopolymers is not well understood. In general, one of the primary mechanisms of action of polysaccharides is nonspecific immunomodulation [8]. The key mechanism behind the immunomodulatory, anticancer, antibacterial, and other pharmacological activities of plant polysaccharides is to activate macrophages, which then leads to modulation of the complement system that activates the cells involved in innate immunity and improves host defense [1—4,11,12]. 

Chitosan is well known as a pH-dependent cationic, nontoxic, antibacterial, easily bioabsorbable, biodegradable, biocompatible (Chandy and Sharma 1990, Hirano et al. 1990), and mucoadhesive biopolymer (Henriksen et al. 1996, He et al. 1998). It also possesses lots of other biological properties such as promoting wound healing (Ueno et al. 2001), anti-infection activity, and antacid and antiulcer activities that prevent or weaken drug-induced irritation in the stomach (Kumar 2000). 

The emergence of bioactive food compounds (neutraceuticals) with health benefits provides an excellent opportunity to improve pubUc health. The incorporation of bioactive compounds, such as peptides and vitamins, into food systems holds much promise in the development of innovative functional foods that may have physiological benefits or reduce the risk of diseases. Compared to pharmaceutical applications, little work has been done on the encapsulation properties of chitosan nanoparticles for the oral administration of neutraceuticals in healthy food. More recently, chitosan has been identified as a versatile biopolymer for a broad range of health and food applications because of its safety and nontoxicity in human beings. Because chitosan matrix is not stable at very low pH, modificatimis to the chitosan micro- or nanoparticles might be able to protect them. 

The interest on replacing synthetic packaging films by biopolymers (e.g., polysaccharides) has greatly increased, as they are nontoxic and biodegradable and can be produced or recovered from renewable resources, a feature that resolves ecolc cal problems for sustainable development. 

Polysaccharide-based polymers (eg, chitosan, starch, alginate, HA, dextran) show interesting properties such as good hemocompatibihty, good interactions with cells, nontoxicity and lower cost with respect to other biopolymers such as collagen, thereby justifying their use as scaffold materials in TE apphcations. 

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