Chondroitin sulfate-based nanocarriers for drug/gene delivery.
In recent years, the naturally occurring polysaccharides captured an increasing amount of attention in the field of drug/gene delivery systems owing to their outstanding propensities, including biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-immunogenicity, extremely low toxicity, and so on. Chondroitin sulfate (ChS), a member of glycosaminoglycan family, consists of repeating disaccharide units of b-1,3-linked N-acetyl galactosamine (GalNAc) and b-1,4-linked d-glucuronic acid (GlcA) with certain position(s) sulfated, which has been widely applied in nano-sized carriers. This review will focus on shared and unique properties of ChS and its latest development in drug/gene delivery systems. In detail, the application of ChS as nanocarriers will be discussed in three dimensions: self-assembly of hydrophobically modified ChS, ChS decorated nanocarriers, and some other nanocarriers based on ChS. A discussion relating to the future perspectives of ChS-based nanocarriers for drug/gene delivery is also included.
Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
Lili
L
Zhao
Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
Mengrui
M
Liu
Department of Pharmacy, Jinan Maternity and Child Care Hospital, Jinan 250012, China.
Juan
J
Wang
Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China. Electronic address: professorgxzhai@126.com.
Guangxi
G
Zhai
D000818:Animals; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000737:chemistry*; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D049329:Nanostructures
D004337:Drug Carriers; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates
Chondroitin sulfate; Drug/gene delivery system; Nanocarriers; Polysaccharide