Designing Natural Polymer-Based Capsules and Spheres for Biomedical Applications—A Review

Abstract

Natural polymers, such as polysaccharides and polypeptides, are potential candidates to serve as carriers of biomedical cargo. Natural polymer-based carriers, having a core–shell structural configuration, offer ample scope for introducing multifunctional capabilities and enable the simultaneous encapsulation of cargo materials of different physical and chemical properties for their targeted delivery and sustained and stimuli-responsive release. On the other hand, carriers with a porous matrix structure offer larger surface area and lower density, in order to serve as potential platforms for cell culture and tissue regeneration. This review explores the designing of micro- and nano-metric core–shell capsules and porous spheres, based on various functions. Synthesis approaches, mechanisms of formation, general- and function-specific characteristics, challenges, and future perspectives are discussed. Recent advances in protein-based carriers with a porous matrix structure and different core–shell configurations are also presented in detail.

Pharmaceutical and drug delivery applications of chitosan biopolymer and its modified nanocomposite: A review

“…As depicted in Figure 3 below, emulsions interior phase is made up of a semi-hydrophobic organic solvent like benzyl alcohol or ethyl acetate. Both phases were pre-saturated with water to ensure that they were in thermodynamic equilibrium at ambient temperature [ 12 , 44 ]. The approach is based on emulsifying a polymer organic solution into a water phase, then evaporating the organic solvent [ 44 , 47 ].…”

“…Chitosan (CS), a biopolymer, has drawn a lot of interest due to its adaptability, accessibility, and special qualities in medical applications [ 12 , 13 ]. It is made up of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranose and 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranose units and is the second most prevalent copolymer after cellulose [ 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”

Evolution of complexity in non-viral oligonucleotide delivery systems: from gymnotic delivery through bioconjugates to biomimetic nanoparticles

“…They range from spherical micelles, polyplexes and lipoplexes to cubes, rods, microneedles, and hydrogels. The functionality of formulation is mainly guided by polymer’s characteristics or by combination of various polymers, which allows to precisely finetune the functions[ 155 ]. To speed up selection of polymers for delivery of RNAs to specific tissues, it is possible to apply high-throughput polymer synthesis combined with high-throughput formulation and cell-based screening methods[ 156 ].…”

Pharmaceutical and drug delivery applications of pectin and its modified nanocomposites

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