Engineering Dextran-Based Scaffolds for Drug Delivery and Tissue Repair

Abstract

Owing to its chemically reactive hydroxyl groups, dextran can be modified with different functional groups to form spherical, tubular and 3D network structures. The development of novel functional scaffolds for efficient controlled release and tissue regeneration has been a major research interest, and offers promising therapeutics for many diseases. Dextran-based scaffolds are naturally biodegradable and can serve as bioactive carriers for many protein biomolecules. The reconstruction of the in vitro microenvironment with proper signaling cues for large-scale tissue regenerative scaffolds has yet to be fully developed, and remains a significant challenge in regenerative medicine. This paper will describe recent advances in dextran-based polymers and scaffolds for controlled release and tissue engineering. Special attention is given to the development of dextran-based hydrogels that are precisely manipulated with desired structural properties and encapsulated with defined angiogenic growth factors for therapeutic neovascularization, as well as their potential for wound repair.

Bacterial-derived biopolymers: Advanced natural nanomaterials for drug delivery and tissue engineering

“…Dextran is an excellent biopolymer which has unique properties such as high water solubility, biodegradability, biocompatibility, nonimmunogenicity and non-antigenicity. Dextran can be easily biodegraded by dextranase (α-1-glycosidases) enzyme which exists in different parts of human body including colon, liver, kidney and spleen and also by different bacteria which live in the colon and release non-toxic metabolites [3,9].…”

“…In recent years, dextran has been widely used as excellent biocompatible nano-carrier in preparing controlled release drug formulations. This polymer contain a large number of hydroxyl groups which could be chemically engineered with different functional groups to form a range of scaffolds, such as hydrogel, sphere, and tubule structures [14].…”

“…This hydrogels can be produced by either chemical or physical crosslinking approaches [14,15]. In comparison with physical crosslinking methods, chemical modification of the dextran scaffold resulted in better hydrogels with desired characteristics.…”

“…In this structure, drugs can be incorporated into dextran matrices for controlled release. pH-sensitive dextran hydrogels are a type of modified dextrans which can be used as carriers for drug delivery, specifically to the colon [14,15]. For instance, copolymerizing glycidyl methacrylate derivatives of dextran (dex-GMA) with N-t-butylacrylamide and acrylic acid is a procedure for synthesis of pHsensitive dextran hydrogels [16].…”

Cardiovascular therapy through nanotechnology – how far are we still from bedside?

“…Dextrans are stable glucose polymers that contain functional groups for derivatization (60). Apart from stability, several other advantages such as water solubility, and drug protection from degradation which allows sustained release of active compounds, make them a suitable platform for delivering pharmaceutical agents (61).…”