Polysaccharides novel biomaterials

Prabaharan M, Mano JF (2006) Stimuli-responsive hydrogels based on polysaccharides incorporated with thermo-responsive polymers as novel biomaterials. Macromol Biosci 6 991-1008... 

Finally, artificial polysaccharides produced via in vitro enzymatic synthesis [228] are new biomaterials with defined structures which either mimic natural polysaccharides or have nonnatural structures and functionalities. Polysaccharides are obtained by the enzymatic polymerisation of simple glycosyl donors via repetitive condensation. This approach not only provides a powerful methodology to produce polysaccharides with defined structures and morphologies as novel biomaterials, but also represents an available tool to analyse the mechanisms of polymerisation and packing in order to acquire high-order molecular assemblies. 

Abstract Carbohydrates have been investigated and developed as delivery vehicles for shuttling nucleic acids into cells. In this review, we present the state of the art in carbohydrate-based polymeric vehicles for nucleic acid delivery, with the focus on the recent successes in preclinical models, both in vitro and in vivo. Polymeric scaffolds based on the natural polysaccharides chitosan, hyaluronan, pullulan, dextran, and schizophyllan each have unique properties and potential for modification, and these results are discussed with the focus on facile synthetic routes and favorable performance in biological systems. Many of these carbohydrates have been used to develop alternative types of biomaterials for nucleic acid delivery to typical polyplexes, and these novel materials are discussed. Also presented are polymeric vehicles that incorporate copolymerized carbohydrates into polymer backbones based on polyethylenimine and polylysine and their effect on transfection and biocompatibility. Unique scaffolds, such as clusters and polymers based on cyclodextrin (CD), are also discussed, with the focus on recent successes in vivo and in the clinic. These results are presented with the emphasis on the role of carbohydrate and charge on transfection. Use of carbohydrates as molecular recognition ligands for cell-type specific dehvery is also briefly... 

A new heparin- and ceUulose-based biocomposite at 7/100(w/w) ratio is produced by developing the increased dissolution of polysaccharides in room temperature ionic liquids (RTlLs) [99]. This signifies the principal published instance of utilizing a novel class of solvents, RTILs, to prepare blood-compatible biomaterials. Employing this strategy, it is likely to fabricate the biomaterials in any form, e.g.. 

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