Versatile Types of Polysaccharide-Based Drug Delivery Systems: From Strategic Design to Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Chemotherapy is still the most direct and effective means of cancer therapy nowadays. The proposal of drug delivery systems (DDSs) has effectively improved many shortcomings of traditional chemotherapy drugs. The technical support of DDSs lies in their excellent material properties. Polysaccharides include a series of natural polymers, such as chitosan, hyaluronic acid, and alginic acid. These polysaccharides have good biocompatibility and degradability, and they are easily chemical modified. Therefore, polysaccharides are ideal candidate materials to construct DDSs, and their clinical application prospects have been favored by researchers. On the basis of versatile types of polysaccharides, this review elaborates their applications from strategic design to cancer therapy. The construction and modification methods of polysaccharide-based DDSs are specifically explained, and the latest research progress of polysaccharide-based DDSs in cancer therapy are also summarized. The purpose of this review is to provide a reference for the design and preparation of polysaccharide-based DDSs with excellent performance.

Keywords: cancer therapy; chemotherapy; drug delivery system (DDS); polysaccharide.

Figure 1

The design strategies of polysaccharide-based drug delivery systems (DDSs).

Figure 2

(a) Chemical structures of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) and oxidized chondroitin sulfate (OCS). (b) Reaction scheme to show a preparation of chitosan-based microspheres (CMs) embedded in CMC–OCS composite gel scaffold (CMs/gel). Modified from [21].

Figure 3

Illustration of the preparation processes of several graftable polysaccharides. Modified from [70].

Figure 4

Schematic illustration of the synthetic route of acid-activated supramolecular nanoprodrug (DOM@DOX) micelles, drug accumulation via the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, cell internalization process, and pH-responsive drug release mechanism. Taken from [64].

Figure 5

Structures of representative polysaccharides.

Figure 6

(a) Schematic of self-assembly and tumor-specific self-degradation of the collaboratively crosslinked crosslinked nanogels (cNG). (b) Schematic of enhanced protein delivery by the cNG for cancer therapy. Modified from [84].

Figure 7

Schematic of HCLR nanocarrier fabrication and the in vivo fate in breast tumor targeting gene delivery. Taken from [92].

Figure 8

Schematic illustration of the synthesis of dextran phosphate (DP)–prospidine (Pr) hydrogels. Taken from [101].

Figure 9

(a) Schematic diagram of the design and synthesis of a novel conjugation vehicle of a photosensitizer based on sodium alginate (SA). (b) In vivo fluorescence images of tumor-bearing KM mice after intravenous injection of SA-based carriers with different molecular weights. The red area represents tumor sites. (c) Ex vivo fluorescence images of organs and tumor at 24 h after injection of SA-based carriers with different molecular weights (1-SA1 is low-molecular-weight SA-based carriers). Modified from [106].

Figure 10

Illustration of the preparation of micelle doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded chondroitin sulfate A (CSA)-disulfide bond (ss)-deoxycholic acid (DOCA) (CSA-ss-DOCA/DOX) and the mechanism of action in a tumor cell. Modified from [110].