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Special Issue "Biopolymers in Drug and Gene Delivery Systems 3.0"

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Macromolecules".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 1053

Special Issue Editor

1. Head of the Laboratory of Natural Polymers, Institute of Macromolecular Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
2. Head of the Analytical Chemistry Department, Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
Interests: polysaccharides; biomaterials; tissue engineering; drug delivery; gene delivery; nanomedicine; nanocomposites; electrospinning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biopolymers usually refer to natural polymers (mainly polysaccharides, proteins, and nucleic acids) produced by living organisms. In this Special Issue, this definition is extended to include semi-synthetic polymers (modified natural polymers) and synthetic polymers, which are biocompatible and biodegradable and can thus be used to design drug delivery systems. Natural and synthetic biopolymers each have advantages and disadvantages. While natural biopolymers are favored over synthetic polymers because of their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and environmental safety, synthetic biopolymers have distinct advantages regarding stability and can be adapted to suit a variety of biomedical applications.

This Special Issue invites authors from multidisciplinary fields to submit original research and up-to-date reviews on fundamental and applied aspects of the design, characterization, and properties of biopolymeric drug and gene delivery systems. Recent advances in polymer chemistry and technology have produced new functional biopolymers and smart nanomaterials with the potential to significantly improve the effectiveness of drug delivery. Ultimately, these materials could improve the treatment of severe diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. We hope that this Special Issue will contribute to the diffusion of new knowledge.

Due to the success of the 1st and 2nd editions, we would like to add more results and new insights from recent research projects. You can find the 1st and 2nd editions at the following link.

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/Biopolymers_Drug_Gene_Delivery_Systems
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/Biopolymers_Delivery_Systems2

Dr. Yury A. Skorik
Guest Editor

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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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

  • biopolymers
  • drug delivery
  • gene delivery
  • biodegradable polymers
  • biocompatible polymers
  • nanomedicine

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 3583 KiB  
Article
Cyanocobalamin-Modified Colistin–Hyaluronan Conjugates: Synthesis and Bioactivity
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(14), 11550; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241411550 - 17 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 877
Abstract
Polymeric drug delivery systems enhance the biopharmaceutical properties of antibiotics by increasing their bioavailability, providing programmable and controlled-release properties, and reducing toxicity. In addition, drug delivery systems are a promising strategy to improve the intestinal permeability of various antimicrobial agents, including colistin (CT). [...] Read more.
Polymeric drug delivery systems enhance the biopharmaceutical properties of antibiotics by increasing their bioavailability, providing programmable and controlled-release properties, and reducing toxicity. In addition, drug delivery systems are a promising strategy to improve the intestinal permeability of various antimicrobial agents, including colistin (CT). This study describes the modification of conjugates based on CT and hyaluronic acid (HA) with cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12). Vitamin B12 was chosen as a targeting ligand because it has its own absorption pathway in the small intestine. The resulting polysaccharide conjugates contained 95 μg/mg vitamin B12 and the CT content was 335 μg/mg; they consisted of particles of two sizes, 98 and 702 nm, with a ζ-potential of approximately −25 mV. An in vitro release test at pH 7.4 and pH 5.2 showed an ultra-slow release of colistin of approximately 1% after 10 h. The modified B12 conjugates retained their antimicrobial activity at the level of pure CT (minimum inhibitory concentration was 2 μg/mL). The resulting delivery systems also reduced the nephrotoxicity of CT by 30–40% (HEK 293 cell line). In addition, the modification of B12 improved the intestinal permeability of CT, and the apparent permeability coefficient of HA–CT–B12 conjugates was 3.5 × 10−6 cm/s, corresponding to an in vivo intestinal absorption of 50–100%. Thus, vitamin-B12-modified conjugates based on CT and HA may be promising oral delivery systems with improved biopharmaceutical properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymers in Drug and Gene Delivery Systems 3.0)
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