Enzymatic hydrolysis, natural polymers

For a polymer to be effective in a therapeutic encapsulation system, it must meet two criteria (1) the polymer must be hydrolytically or enzymatically labile, and (2) the resulting hydrolysis by-products must be biocompatible. Many natural polymers are excellent choices for encapsulation polymers, especially the natural polysaccharides discussed in Chapter 8. Synthetic polymers having an all-carbon backbone are generally not hydrolytically labile and are generally not employed as encapsulating polymers, although one does encounter the use of some methacrylate and silicone-based polymers in delivery systems. 

Arabuli, N., Tsitlanadze, G., Edilashyili, L., Kharadze, D., Goguadze, T, Beridze, V., Gomurashtdli, Z. and Katsarava, R, (1994) Heterochain polymers based on natural amino acids. Synthesis and enzymatic hydrolysis of regular poly(ester-amide)s based on bis(L-phenylalanine) a,o)-alkylene diesters and adipic acid. Macromol. Chem.. Phys., 195, 2279-2289. 

In addition to starch as a source of glucose, it is also possible to obtain glucose by the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose, although it has proved to be economically and technically challenging on an industrial scale because of the refractory nature of the cellulose polymer (see Section 16.8). Nevertheless, the enormous quantities of cellulose available in wood and other biomass sources make glucose from cellulose an attractive prospect. 

Hydrogels with Degradable Polymer Backbone The degradation of polymer backbone takes place by hydrolysis or enzymatic action (72). Polymer backbone can be hydrolyzed and the low molecular weight by-products produced can be handled easily. Natural... 

---