-
International Journal of Molecular... Dec 2020Wound management remains a challenge worldwide, although there are several developed wound dressing materials for the management of acute and chronic wounds. The wound... (Review)
Review
Wound management remains a challenge worldwide, although there are several developed wound dressing materials for the management of acute and chronic wounds. The wound dressings that are currently used include hydrogels, films, wafers, nanofibers, foams, topical formulations, transdermal patches, sponges, and bandages. Hydrogels exhibit unique features which make them suitable wound dressings such as providing a moist environment for wound healing, exhibiting high moisture content, or creating a barrier against bacterial infections, and are suitable for the management of exuding and granulating wounds. Biopolymers have been utilized for their development due to their non-toxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible properties. Hydrogels have been prepared from biopolymers such as cellulose and chitosan by crosslinking with selected synthetic polymers resulting in improved mechanical, biological, and physicochemical properties. They were useful by accelerating wound re-epithelialization and also mimic skin structure, inducing skin regeneration. Loading antibacterial agents into them prevented bacterial invasion of wounds. This review article is focused on hydrogels formulated from two biopolymers-chitosan and cellulose-for improved wound management.
Topics: Animals; Biopolymers; Burns; Cellulose; Chitosan; Clinical Trials as Topic; Diabetes Complications; Humans; Hydrogels; Wound Healing; Wounds and Injuries
PubMed: 33352826
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21249656 -
International Journal of Molecular... Mar 2023Recently, sustainable, biodegradable, and nontoxic materials, especially from renewable resources, have gained a lot of attention, and an important effort has been put...
Recently, sustainable, biodegradable, and nontoxic materials, especially from renewable resources, have gained a lot of attention, and an important effort has been put into the research of biodegradable and biocompatible polymers as an alternative to petroleum-based commodity plastics [...].
Topics: Biodegradation, Environmental; Polymers; Plastics; Biopolymers; Petroleum
PubMed: 37047403
DOI: 10.3390/ijms24076430 -
Nature Jun 2023Eukaryotic cells can undergo different forms of programmed cell death, many of which culminate in plasma membrane rupture as the defining terminal event. Plasma membrane...
Eukaryotic cells can undergo different forms of programmed cell death, many of which culminate in plasma membrane rupture as the defining terminal event. Plasma membrane rupture was long thought to be driven by osmotic pressure, but it has recently been shown to be in many cases an active process, mediated by the protein ninjurin-1 (NINJ1). Here we resolve the structure of NINJ1 and the mechanism by which it ruptures membranes. Super-resolution microscopy reveals that NINJ1 clusters into structurally diverse assemblies in the membranes of dying cells, in particular large, filamentous assemblies with branched morphology. A cryo-electron microscopy structure of NINJ1 filaments shows a tightly packed fence-like array of transmembrane α-helices. Filament directionality and stability is defined by two amphipathic α-helices that interlink adjacent filament subunits. The NINJ1 filament features a hydrophilic side and a hydrophobic side, and molecular dynamics simulations show that it can stably cap membrane edges. The function of the resulting supramolecular arrangement was validated by site-directed mutagenesis. Our data thus suggest that, during lytic cell death, the extracellular α-helices of NINJ1 insert into the plasma membrane to polymerize NINJ1 monomers into amphipathic filaments that rupture the plasma membrane. The membrane protein NINJ1 is therefore an interactive component of the eukaryotic cell membrane that functions as an in-built breaking point in response to activation of cell death.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Mice; Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal; Cell Membrane; Cryoelectron Microscopy; Nerve Growth Factors; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; Biopolymers; Cell Death
PubMed: 37198476
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05991-z -
Biomolecules Oct 2021Vascular calcification, once considered a degenerative, end-stage, and inevitable condition, is now recognized as a complex process regulated in a manner similar to... (Review)
Review
Vascular calcification, once considered a degenerative, end-stage, and inevitable condition, is now recognized as a complex process regulated in a manner similar to skeletal bone at the molecular and cellular levels. Since the initial discovery of bone morphogenetic protein in calcified human atherosclerotic lesions, decades of research have now led to the recognition that the regulatory mechanisms and the biomolecules that control cardiovascular calcification overlap with those controlling skeletal mineralization. In this review, we focus on key biomolecules driving the ectopic calcification in the circulation and their regulation by metabolic, hormonal, and inflammatory stimuli. Although calcium deposits in the vessel wall introduce rupture stress at their edges facing applied tensile stress, they simultaneously reduce rupture stress at the orthogonal edges, leaving the net risk of plaque rupture and consequent cardiac events depending on local material strength. A clinically important consequence of the shared mechanisms between the vascular and bone tissues is that therapeutic agents designed to inhibit vascular calcification may adversely affect skeletal mineralization and vice versa. Thus, it is essential to consider both systems when developing therapeutic strategies.
Topics: Animals; Biopolymers; Calcinosis; Calcium; Cardiovascular Diseases; Humans; Models, Biological; Molecular Targeted Therapy
PubMed: 34680115
DOI: 10.3390/biom11101482 -
International Journal of Molecular... Jul 2020Oil-derived plastics are the most commonly used materials for packaging because of their features, low cost, and availability of resources for manufacturing [...].
Oil-derived plastics are the most commonly used materials for packaging because of their features, low cost, and availability of resources for manufacturing [...].
Topics: Biopolymers; Food Packaging; Green Chemistry Technology
PubMed: 32668678
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21144942 -
International Journal of Molecular... Nov 2023The definition of the term biopolymer is often controversial, and there is no clear distinction between "biopolymers", "bioplastics", and "bio-based polymers" [...].
The definition of the term biopolymer is often controversial, and there is no clear distinction between "biopolymers", "bioplastics", and "bio-based polymers" [...].
Topics: Biopolymers; Polymers
PubMed: 38003441
DOI: 10.3390/ijms242216251 -
International Journal of Molecular... Feb 2022Petroleum-based plastics can be found everywhere in our habitual life in diverse applications such as automobiles, aerospace, and medical science [...].
Petroleum-based plastics can be found everywhere in our habitual life in diverse applications such as automobiles, aerospace, and medical science [...].
Topics: Biopolymers; Humans; Petroleum; Plastics
PubMed: 35216374
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23042257 -
International Journal of Molecular... Apr 2022Alginate is an excellent biodegradable and renewable material that is already used for a broad range of industrial applications, including advanced fields, such as... (Review)
Review
Alginate is an excellent biodegradable and renewable material that is already used for a broad range of industrial applications, including advanced fields, such as biomedicine and bioengineering, due to its excellent biodegradable and biocompatible properties. This biopolymer can be produced from brown algae or a microorganism culture. This review presents the principles, chemical structures, gelation properties, chemical interactions, production, sterilization, purification, types, and alginate-based hydrogels developed so far. We present all of the advanced strategies used to remarkably enhance this biopolymer's physicochemical and biological characteristics in various forms, such as injectable gels, fibers, films, hydrogels, and scaffolds. Thus, we present here all of the material engineering enhancement approaches achieved so far in this biopolymer in terms of mechanical reinforcement, thermal and electrical performance, wettability, water sorption and diffusion, antimicrobial activity, in vivo and in vitro biological behavior, including toxicity, cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation, immunological response, biodegradation, porosity, and its use as scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. These improvements to overcome the drawbacks of the alginate biopolymer could exponentially increase the significant number of alginate applications that go from the paper industry to the bioprinting of organs.
Topics: Alginates; Biopolymers; Bioprinting; Hydrogels; Tissue Engineering; Tissue Scaffolds
PubMed: 35562876
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23094486 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Mar 2023Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases and affects a large proportion of the population worldwide. Conventional treatments in the management include chemotherapy,... (Review)
Review
Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases and affects a large proportion of the population worldwide. Conventional treatments in the management include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. Although being well-accepted, they have many lacunas in the form of severe side effect resulting from lack of targeted delivery. Antibody biopolymer conjugates are a novel method which is an add-on to older methods of immunization. It is used in various diseases and disorders. It ensures the targeted delivery of molecules to increase its efficacy and reduce unwanted effects of the molecule/drug to normal cells. It shows miraculous results in the treatment and management of several cancers even in advanced stages. Herein, we present the chemistry between biopolymer and antibody, their effects on cancer as well as the basic differences between antibody-drug conjugates and antibody-biopolymer conjugates.
Topics: Humans; Antibodies; Neoplasms; Medical Oncology; Immunoconjugates; Biopolymers; Antineoplastic Agents
PubMed: 36985578
DOI: 10.3390/molecules28062605 -
International Journal of Pharmaceutics Apr 2020Bacterial levan is a fructose homopolymer that offers great potential in biotechnological applications due to biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-toxicity. This... (Review)
Review
Bacterial levan is a fructose homopolymer that offers great potential in biotechnological applications due to biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-toxicity. This biopolymer possesses diverse multifunctional features, which translates into a wide range of applicability, including in industry, consumer products, pharmaceuticals and biomedicine. Extensive research has identified great potential for its exploitation in human health. In addition, nanostructured systems have provided significant advances in the area of health, mainly with respect to disease diagnosis and treatment. While the functional properties of these natural polysaccharide-based polymers are desirable in these systems, research in this area has been limited to few natural polymers, such as chitosan, alginate and dextran, which obscures the true potential of levan in the production of nanostructured systems for biotechnological and medical applications. The present review considers the latest research in the field to focus on the use of levan as a promising biopolymer for the development of nanomaterials.
Topics: Alginates; Biocompatible Materials; Biopolymers; Chitosan; Drug Delivery Systems; Fructans; Humans; Nanostructures; Polymers; Polysaccharides
PubMed: 32199961
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2020.119242