Alginate: properties and biomedical applications

Hydrogel: Preparation, characterization, and applications: A review

https://www.farm.ucl.ac.be/Full-texts-FARM/Danhier-2010-2.pdf

To exploit the tumor microenvironment: Passive and active tumor targeting of nanocarriers for anti-cancer drug delivery

In medicine, nanotechnology has sparked a rapidly growing interest as it promises to solve a number of issues associated with conventional therapeutic agents, including their poor water solubility (at least, for most anticancer drugs), lack of targeting capability, nonspecific distribution, systemic toxicity, and low therapeutic index. Over the past several decades, remarkable progress has been made in the development and application of engineered nanoparticles to treat cancer more effectively. For example, therapeutic agents have been integrated with nanoparticles engineered with optimal sizes, shapes, and surface properties to increase their solubility, prolong their circulation half-life, improve their biodistribution, and reduce their immunogenicity. Nanoparticles and their payloads have also been favorably delivered into tumors by taking advantage of the pathophysiological conditions, such as the enhanced permeability and retention effect, and the spatial variations in the pH value. Additionally, targeting ligands (e.g., small organic molecules, peptides, antibodies, and nucleic acids) have been added to the surface of nanoparticles to specifically target cancerous cells through selective binding to the receptors overexpressed on their surface. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that multiple types of therapeutic drugs and/or diagnostic agents (e.g., contrast agents) could be delivered through the same carrier to enable combination therapy with a potential to overcome multidrug resistance, and real-time readout on the treatment efficacy. It is anticipated that precisely engineered nanoparticles will emerge as the next-generation platform for cancer therapy and many other biomedical applications.

Engineered Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery in Cancer Therapy

Future perspectives and recent advances in stimuli-responsive materials

Biomedical applications of boronic acid polymers

Triply-responsive boronic acid block copolymers: solution self-assembly induced by changes in temperature, pH, or sugar concentration.

https://www.rsc.org/suppdata/CC/b8/b802293c/b802293c.pdf

Sugar-responsive block copolymers by direct RAFT polymerization of unprotected boronic acid monomers

A facile route to well-defined boronic acid (co)polymers from stable and easily manipulated boronic ester monomers is presented. The polymerization of 4-pinacolatoborylstyrene by reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) yielded polymeric boronic acid precursors. Selection of stoichiometry allowed tuning of polymerization kinetics and targeting specific molecular weights in the range of Mn = 17000−32000 g/mol. The resulting low polydispersity poly(4-pinacolatoborylstyrene) homopolymers were employed as macro-chain transfer agents for block copolymerization with N,N-dimethylacrylamide to yield amphiphilic block copolymers that formed micelles in aqueous media. The pinacol ester derivatized (co)polymers were easily deprotected by a mild and convenient strategy to yield free boronic acid polymers

Jennifer N. Cambre

Papers

Future perspectives and recent advances in stimuli-responsive materials

Biomedical applications of boronic acid polymers

Triply-responsive boronic acid block copolymers: solution self-assembly induced by changes in temperature, pH, or sugar concentration.

Sugar-responsive block copolymers by direct RAFT polymerization of unprotected boronic acid monomers

Facile Strategy to Well-Defined Water-Soluble Boronic Acid (Co)polymers