Thiolated biopolymers in drug delivery and biomedical applications

CUSTODIANA COLMENAREZ LOBO; MIRTA L. FASCIO; NORMA B. D´ACCORSO

Tailor-Made and Functionalized Biopolymer Systems

Woodhead Publishing

Año: 2021; p. 35 - 52

In medicine, the applications of biopolymers are of great interests because of their easy accessibility, low cost and high functionality. In this context, collagen, albumin, alginate, gelatin, cyclodextrins, chitosan, dextran, starch, agarose, cellulose, hyaluronic acid, etc. are most attractive for their several biomedical uses. The incorporation of thiol groups to those biopolymers leads to the production of thiomers, which show an improved possibility to interact with the glycoproteins on the mucosal surfaces. These mucoadhesive properties of the thiomers eventually make them ideal substrates for drug delivery and biomedical applications. In this chapter, the recent advances in the synthesis of thiolated biopolymers based on chitosan, starch, gelatin, β-cyclodextrin, hyaluronic acid, whey protein, pullulan and alginate are reported.