Glycans in Nanomedicine, Impact and Perspectives

Abstract

Glycans have been selected by nature for both structural and 'recognition' purposes. Taking inspiration from nature, nanomedicine exploits glycans not only as structural constituents of nanoparticles and nanostructured biomaterials but also as selective interactors of such glyco-nanotools. Surface glycosylation of nanoparticles finds application in targeting specific cells, whereas recent findings give evidence that the glycan content of cell microenvironment is able to induce the cell fate. This review will highlight the role of glycans in nanomedicine, schematizing the different uses and roles in drug-delivery systems and in biomaterials for regenerative medicine.

Glycosylated Nanoparticles for Cancer-Targeted Drug Delivery

“…Additionally, glycoconjugates exhibit a neutralization of zeta potential without significant alterations in colloidal stability (34,66). Furthermore, depending on the drug conjugation approach and the therapeutic strategy, cationic saccharide molecules, such as dextran spermine and aminated pullulan, or anionic molecules, such as pectin, heparin, and hyaluronic acid, can be modulated to obtain the desired therapeutic effect (67).…”

Biomedical Hydrogels Fabricated Using Diels–Alder Crosslinking

“…To this purpose the nanoparticles must reach selectively the pathological site and release the drug or provide a diagnostic signal. [1] The other relevant application of biomaterials concerns tissue engineering, based on the ability to regenerate human tissues, reproducing the morphology and biochemical features of the cell microenvironment, in order to induce the expected cell fate. [2] To this purpose natural and synthetic polymeric materials are properly crosslinked to reach the required structural properties, [3] and decorated with functional molecular entities providing signals, such as peptides , [4][5][6][7] glycan, [8][9][10][11] antibodies, [12,13] proteins [14] or detecting agents.…”

Glycan Nanobiosensors

“…It is generally believed that the integration of NPs with glycans will not elicit a strong immune response increasing the circulation of NPs within the bloodstream [9]. The toxicity of silver NPs functionalized with galactose and mannose moieties to neuronal-like and hepatic cells was lower than in these coated with glucose [35] so it is crucial to finely tune the interfacial glycan composition of NPs in order to achieve the desired function of NPs [36]. Reproduced with permission from [37].…”

“…The proof of concept was also tested by the binding of Con A to a mannose-patterned interface [55]. Several review papers discuss the preparation and application of glycan nanobiosensors to the detection of various glycan-binding biomolecules [35,[56][57][58], with only one comprehensively summarizing the literature published in 2016 [44]. Hence, this review study seeks to provide an update in this fascinating scientific field since 2016.…”