Here you find some abstracts of Engineering of “Biomaterials for Drug Delivery Systems – beyond Polyethylene Glycol”.

1 – PEGylated “stealth” nanoparticles and liposomes

Through nanomedicine, game-changing methods are emerging to deliver drug molecules directly to diseased tissue. The targeted delivery of drugs and imaging agents via drug carrier-based platforms is among the most promising of these methods. Such drug delivery systems can now be synthesized from a wide range of different materials, made in a number of different shapes, and coated with an array of different organic molecules, including ligands. In this chapter, we will focus on PEGylated liposomes and nanoparticles. By grafting polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymers on the surfaces of liposomes and other nanoparticles, protein absorption can be dramatically reduced, resulting in less macrophage cellular uptake and therefore prolonged blood circulation times in PEGylated over non-PEGylated nanomaterials. Through systematic experiments and computer simulations, the densely packed PEG polymers are found to play the most important role in this process, which is highly related to their conformation and free energy change. Such insights may provide guidance in the design of efficient drug carriers for clinical applications.

5 – Polyglycerols

Polyglycerol (PG), a flexible hydrophilic aliphatic polyether polyol, has been explored as a promising candidate for drug delivery purposes driven by its biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and low toxicity. Considering the fact that PG shows advantages over its polyether analog poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), extensive attention has been devoted to the design and development of new PG-based structures for biomedical applications. In this chapter, an overview is provided with respect to synthetic strategies toward linear, hyperbranced, and perfect dendritic polyglycerols, characteristic features that highlight the advantages of PG over PEG, and potential applications of PGs in various smart supramolecular structures such as tailored pH-, thermo-, and light responsive drug delivery systems in which polyglycerols act as a promising PEG substitute. Particular emphasis is also placed on the advances in cancer and gene therapies using PG formulations.

9 – Poly(vinylpyrrolidone)

Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) is one of the most commonly employed synthetic hydrophilic (nonionic) excipient in pharmaceutical formulations. Professor Walter Rappe and his team first developed this excipient during the 1930s and it is now gaining popularity due to its properties such as being nonantigenic, and hence avoiding the danger of infectious diseases inherent in blood. This chapter covers the basic introduction, physicochemical properties, synthesis, and the applications of PVP for its applications in pharmaceutical preparations such as solid, liquid, and semi-solid dosage forms including the PVP-based patented pharmaceutical products.

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