ABSTRACT
Nanomaterials of natural biopolymers such as polysaccharides are receiving increased attention in controlled therapeutics. The possibility of regio-selective functionalisation and manipulation of ionisability makes the polysaccharide a unique candidate for targeted and stimuli-responsive delivery with biocompatibility and non-toxic nature, especially for cancer chemotherapy. Self-assembly of the suitably modified amphiphilic polysaccharide homopolymers and copolymers could be used as a facile synthetic strategy for nanostructures such as micelles, vesicles or tubes for effective drug targeting and as an advanced treatment methodology. The polysaccharide-based nanostructures can address the toxicity concerns of the bulk materials and metal nanoparticles in therapeutics. Polysaccharides are gaining increasing attention as components of stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems since they can be obtained from natural renewable sources. Ionic polysaccharides can be made into cross-linkable hydrogels sensitive to external stimuli to control the drug release pattern.
