Recent Applications of Dual-Stimuli Responsive Chitosan Hydrogel Nanocomposites as Drug Delivery Tools

Abstract

Polysaccharides are a versatile class of macromolecules that are involved in many biological interactions critical to life. They can be further modified for added functionality. Once derivatized, these polymers can exhibit new chemical properties that can be further optimized for applications in drug delivery, wound healing, sensor development and others. Chitosan, derived from the N-deacetylation of chitin, is one example of a polysaccharide that has been functionalized and used as a major component of polysaccharide biomaterials. In this brief review, we focus on one aspect of chitosan's utility, namely we discuss recent advances in dual-responsive chitosan hydrogel nanomaterials.

Keywords: biomaterials; chitosan; nanocomposites; stimuli-responsive.

Figure 1

Structure of chitin and chitosan.

Figure 2

Schematic of production of a cross-linked nanogel by Howali et al. (From [47]).

Figure 3

Nanogel induced cell death after irradiation (modified from [59]).

Figure 4

(a) Structures and illustrations of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC), 3,3′-dithiopropionic acid dihydrazide (DTP) and oxidized alginate (OSA); (b) schematic of crosslinking strategy (modified from [80]).