Sweetening Drug Delivery for Future Therapies: Hydrogels Based on Sugars for Biomedical Applications

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Hydrogels are 3D, cross-linked networks of water-soluble polymers, and formulated in a variety of physical forms (slabs, microparticles, nanoparticles...). Hydrogels show great promise in biomedical applications, drug delivery in particular, but also in clinical practice and experimental medicine for a wide range of applications (tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, diagnostics, cellular immobilization, separation of biomolecules or cells). Within the broad chemical family of "sugars", polysaccharides are excellent biopolymers for hydrogel preparation in biomedical contexts: they are non-toxic, water-soluble with high capability for swelling induced by simple chemical modifications, and they can be biodegraded to nontoxic products that are easily assimilated by the body. Great advances in polymer preparation for hydrogels (enzymatic procedures, nanocomposites, etc.) needs to be followed by an understanding at molecular level of the processes of gelation, the role of water, and the impact on final performance. In this project we will use state-of-the-art NMR spectroscopy (solution, solid, and gel state advanced experiments) to deepen our understanding of the molecular details of novel hydrogel materials based on starch and nanocellulose fibres. We will use cutting-edge glycobiology techniques (enzymatic and click chemistry) for functionalisation of nanocrystalline cellulose, prepare advanced materials (nanocomposite and interpenetrating network hydrogels), and will develop novel NMR spectroscopic protocols to understand the structure and dynamics of the biomaterials.