Biomedicine Innovations and Its Nanohydrogel Classifications

Abstract

As one of the most cutting-edge and promising polymer crosslinked network nanoparticle systems. Polymer nano-sized hydrogels (nanogels) have been a hot topic in the biomedical field over the last few decades. Due to their unique characteristics, which include their relatively high drug encapsulation efficiency, ease of preparation, high tunability, low toxicity, high stability in serum and responsive behavior to a range of stimuli to facilitate drug release. Nanogels are thought to be the next generation of drug delivery systems that can completely change the way that drug delivery systems have an impact on patients’ lives. Nanogels have demonstrated significant potential in a variety of fields, including chemotherapy, diagnosis, organ targeting, and delivery of bioactive molecules of different dimensions. However, the lack of substantial clinical data from nanogels becomes one of the major barriers to translating the nanogel concept into a practical therapeutic application for many disease conditions. In addition, nanogel safety profiles have been the major concern that hinders it advancement to the clinical trial phase. This review aims to emphasize the unique properties of nanogels as delivery systems for a variety of bioactive molecules over other nano-delivery systems. Also, this review attempts to give insight into the recent progress in nanogels as a carrier in the field of nanomedicine to overcome complex biological barriers. Relevant scientific data and clinical rationale for the development and the potential use of nanogel as a carrier for targeted therapeutic interventions are discussed. Finally, the concluding points of this review highlight the importance of understanding the long-term toxicity profile of nanogel within the biological system to fully understand their biocompatibility.

Advances in Nanogels for Topical Drug Delivery in Ocular Diseases

“…In addition, They can incorporate the drug on their own or in combination with liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, dendrimers, or polymeric nanoparticles [ 52 ]. Based on the excellent properties listed above, nanogels are an ideal nanocarrier for drug delivery and have been regarded as the next generation of drug delivery systems with the potential to completely change the way therapy drugs affect patients’ lifestyles [ 53 ]. Such advantages of nanogels have been applied to drug delivery systems, which have produced important developments in efforts to find solutions to the problem of ocular topical drug delivery.…”

Rational Design and Development of Polymeric Nanogels as Protein Carriers

“…Usually, orthogonal reactions are employed, such as click chemistry or Schiff-base reactions. [13,19] Cleavable crosslinkers will help induce NG degradation upon specific stimuli, such as enzyme activity or reductive environment. [37,41] Finally, microfluidics approaches are gaining importance in the manufacture of delivery systems, including NGs.…”

“…Physically cross‐linked NGs are self‐assembled by (supramolecular) interactions between the same or different polymer chains [ 19 ] These interactions are reversible and include hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces, electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. [ 22 ] The crosslinking process usually takes place in an aqueous medium and under mild conditions, and the lack of covalent crosslinking agents/catalysts results in reduced side products and improved biocompatibility.…”

“…Usually, orthogonal reactions are employed, such as click chemistry or Schiff‐base reactions. [ 13,19 ] Cleavable crosslinkers will help induce NG degradation upon specific stimuli, such as enzyme activity or reductive environment. [ 37,41 ]…”

“…For example, chemistry‐oriented reviews focus on the structural aspects of NGs for delivery applications (e.g, stimuli‐responsiveness, synthetic methods, etc.). [ 15–20 ] In these articles, the encapsulation of proteins is mostly used as an example to show the versatility of these carriers, and little attention is given to the interaction between NGs and proteins or the intrinsic differences of each type of protein/application. Regarding the clinical aspects, protein delivery is mostly used in cancer therapy and vaccines.…”