Chitosan and Its Derivatives Functionalized Drug Delivery Systems for Biomedical Application

Dear Colleagues,

Chitosan, as the only naturally occurring polycationic polysaccharide, has been widely implicated in the design of drug delivery systems for various biomedical applications due to its considerable biocompatibility and biodegradability. Furthermore, chitosan derivatives obtained via chemical modification of functional groups always display better stability and higher water solubility than chitosan, which also hold promising potential in broadening the application than its predecessors, such as drug delivery, antibacterial activity or anticancer capabilities. Glycated Chitosan and N-dihydro-galacto-chitosan, respectively, are combined with thermal ablation or laser strategy for tumor therapy in clinical trials, where chitosan derivatives act as adjuvants. Chitosan and its derivatives functionalized nanoparticles possess large numbers of lone-pair electrons, making it possible for gene delivery or drug loading via electrostatic adsorption, which was also utilized to fabricate polyplexes via ionically crosslinking when chitosan functions as a framework. The high water solubility of the derivatives of chitosan is why there have been extensive attempts to design polymeric nanoparticles for drug delivery.

This Special Issue aims to invite submissions concerning new trends in the biomedical application of chitosan and its derivatives. Contributions may focus on chitosan and its derivatives functionalized drug delivery systems, such as hydrogels, micelles or muti-component nanoscale systems. Potential interests may include, but are not limited to, anti-cancer activity, tissue regeneration ability, oral delivery and anti-microbial capabilities. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Fuqiang Hu
Prof. Dr. Hong Yuan
Guest Editors

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