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Polymers
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Polymers Composed of Natural Molecules in Drug Delivery Systems
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Polymers Composed of Natural Molecules in Drug Delivery Systems

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 July 2023) | Viewed by 10825

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Guangyan Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Green Materials for Light Industry, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China
Interests: biobased polymers; surfactants; cosmetics; polymer nanoparticles; micelles
Dr. Jia Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Center for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China
Interests: nanomedicines; drug delivery; cancer therapy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Drug delivery systems have attracted great attention in recent years since they can usually achieve the protection, transport, and controlled or sustained release of therapeutic agents and reduce side effects during treatment. In a drug delivery system, polymers play an important role. However, polymers comprising non-degradable carbon–carbon backbones have disadvantages in biodegradability and biocompatibility, which limit their possible applications in the biomedicine field. Natural molecules, such as amino acids, vegetable oils, polyols, and sugars, are widely present in nature. Polymers that are derived from these natural molecules are environmentally friendly, biodegradable, and usually exhibit good biocompatibility. Therefore, polymers, such as poly(amino acid)s and polysaccharides, composed of natural molecules have become a hot research topic for drug delivery.

This Special Issue aims to focus on recent advances and developments in novel polymers composed of natural molecules for drug delivery. Both high-quality original research articles and comprehensive reviews are welcome to provide a clear understanding of the current state of the art in polymers composed of natural molecules for drug delivery. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Synthesis and analysis of polymers derived from natural molecules;
  • Degradability of polymers derived from natural molecules;
  • Toxicity of polymers derived from natural molecules;
  • Self-assembly behaviors of polymers derived from natural molecules;
  • Stimuli-responsive polymers derived from natural molecules;
  • The relationship between physico-chemical properties and chemical structure in polymers derived from natural molecules;
  • Application of polymers derived from natural molecules for drug delivery.

Dr. Guangyan Zhang
Dr. Jia Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • drug delivery
  • synthesis and analysis
  • natural molecules
  • physico-chemical properties
  • biodegradability and biocompatibility
  • stimuli responsiveness
  • nanomedicine
  • toxicity

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 3362 KiB  
Article
Novel Monomethoxy Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Modified Hydroxylated Tung Oil for Drug Delivery
by Huafen Wang, Huanhuan He, Jiaxiang Zhang, Juntao Liu, Yuwei Zhuang, Yuanyuan Yin, Zhiyong Ren, Yang Fu and Suqin He
Polymers 2023, 15(3), 564; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15030564 - 21 Jan 2023
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Abstract
Novel monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) modified hydroxylated tung oil (HTO), denoted as mPEG-HTO-mPEG, was designed and synthesized for drug delivery. mPEG-HTO-mPEG consists of a hydroxylated tung oil center joined by two mPEG blocks via [...] Read more.
Novel monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) modified hydroxylated tung oil (HTO), denoted as mPEG-HTO-mPEG, was designed and synthesized for drug delivery. mPEG-HTO-mPEG consists of a hydroxylated tung oil center joined by two mPEG blocks via a urethane linkage. The properties of mPEG-HTO-mPEG were affected by the length of the mPEG chain. Three mPEG with different molecular weights were used to prepare mPEG-HTO-mPEG. The obtained three mPEG-HTO-mPEG polymers were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), respectively. Furthermore, the particle sizes of mPEG-HTO-mPEG micelles were evaluated by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). A critical aggregation concentration (CAC) ranged from 7.28 to 11.73 mg/L depending on the chain length of mPEG. The drug loading and release behaviors of mPEG-HTO-mPEG were investigated using prednisone acetate as a model drug, and results indicated that hydrophobic prednisone acetate could be effectively loaded into mPEG-HTO-mPEG micelles and exhibited a long-term sustained release. Moreover, compared with HTO, mPEG-HTO-mPEG had no obvious cytotoxicity to HeLa and L929 cells. Therefore, monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) modified hydroxylated tung oil mPEG-HTO-mPEG may be a promising drug carrier. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymers Composed of Natural Molecules in Drug Delivery Systems)
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13 pages, 1219 KiB  
Article
Differences in the Elastomeric Behavior of Polyglycine-Rich Regions of Spidroin 1 and 2 Proteins
by Luis F. Pacios, Joseph Arguelles, Cheryl Y. Hayashi, Gustavo V. Guinea, Manuel Elices and Jose Perez-Rigueiro
Polymers 2022, 14(23), 5263; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14235263 - 2 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1366
Abstract
Two different polyglycine-rich fragments were selected as representatives of major ampullate gland spidroins (MaSp) 1 and 2 types, and their behavior in a water-saturated environment was simulated within the framework of molecular dynamics (MD). The selected fragments are found in the sequences of [...] Read more.
Two different polyglycine-rich fragments were selected as representatives of major ampullate gland spidroins (MaSp) 1 and 2 types, and their behavior in a water-saturated environment was simulated within the framework of molecular dynamics (MD). The selected fragments are found in the sequences of the proteins MaSp1a and MaSp2.2a of Argiope aurantia with respective lengths of 36 amino acids (MaSp1a) and 50 amino acids (MaSp2.2s). The simulation took the fully extended β-pleated conformation as reference, and MD was used to determine the equilibrium configuration in the absence of external forces. Subsequently, MD were employed to calculate the variation in the distance between the ends of the fragments when subjected to an increasing force. Both fragments show an elastomeric behavior that can be modeled as a freely jointed chain with links of comparable length, and a larger number of links in the spidroin 2 fragment. It is found, however, that the maximum recovery force recorded from the spidroin 2 peptide (Fmax ≈ 400 pN) is found to be significantly larger than that of the spidroin 1 (Fmax ≈ 250 pN). The increase in the recovery force of the spidroin 2 polyglycine-rich fragment may be correlated with the larger values observed in the strain at breaking of major ampullate silk fibers spun by Araneoidea species, which contain spidroin 2 proteins, compared to the material produced by spider species that lack these spidroins (RTA-clade). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymers Composed of Natural Molecules in Drug Delivery Systems)
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Review

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21 pages, 1904 KiB  
Review
Cinnamaldehyde-Contained Polymers and Their Biomedical Applications
by Guangyan Zhang, Tianlong Li, Jia Liu, Xinran Wu and Hui Yi
Polymers 2023, 15(6), 1517; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15061517 - 18 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5232
Abstract
Cinnamaldehyde, a natural product that can be extracted from a variety of plants of the genus Cinnamomum, exhibits excellent biological activities including antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. To overcome the disadvantages (e.g., poor water solubility and sensitivity to light) or enhance [...] Read more.
Cinnamaldehyde, a natural product that can be extracted from a variety of plants of the genus Cinnamomum, exhibits excellent biological activities including antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. To overcome the disadvantages (e.g., poor water solubility and sensitivity to light) or enhance the advantages (e.g., high reactivity and promoting cellular reactive oxygen species production) of cinnamaldehyde, cinnamaldehyde can be loaded into or conjugated with polymers for sustained or controlled release, thereby prolonging the effective action time of its biological activities. Moreover, when cinnamaldehyde is conjugated with a polymer, it can also introduce environmental responsiveness to the polymer through the form of stimuli-sensitive linkages between its aldehyde group and various functional groups of polymers. The environmental responsiveness provides the great potential of cinnamaldehyde-conjugated polymers for applications in the biomedical field. In this review, the strategies for preparing cinnamaldehyde-contained polymers are summarized and their biomedical applications are also reviewed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymers Composed of Natural Molecules in Drug Delivery Systems)
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16 pages, 964 KiB  
Review
Application Prospect and Preliminary Exploration of GelMA in Corneal Stroma Regeneration
by Guanyu Su, Guigang Li, Wei Wang and Lingjuan Xu
Polymers 2022, 14(19), 4227; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14194227 - 9 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2100
Abstract
Corneal regeneration has become a prominent study area in recent decades. Because the corneal stroma contributes about 90% of the corneal thickness in the corneal structure, corneal stromal regeneration is critical for the treatment of cornea disease. Numerous materials, including deacetylated chitosan, hydrophilic [...] Read more.
Corneal regeneration has become a prominent study area in recent decades. Because the corneal stroma contributes about 90% of the corneal thickness in the corneal structure, corneal stromal regeneration is critical for the treatment of cornea disease. Numerous materials, including deacetylated chitosan, hydrophilic gel, collagen, gelatin methacrylate (GelMA), serine protein, glycerol sebacate, and decellularized extracellular matrix, have been explored for keratocytes regeneration. GelMA is one of the most prominent materials, which is becoming more and more popular because of its outstanding three-dimensional scaffold structure, strong mechanics, good optical transmittance, and biocompatibility. This review discussed recent research on corneal stroma regeneration materials and related GelMA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymers Composed of Natural Molecules in Drug Delivery Systems)
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