ABSTRACT
In recent years, natural polysaccharides have been extensively used in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications to optimize drug targeting and/or release rate. This is because they are usually abundant, in most cases available from renewable sources, and have a large variety of composition and properties allowing appropriately tailored chemical modifications, and also due to their sustainability, biodegradability, and biosafety. Alginate undergoes hydrolytic cleavage under acidic conditions, which involves protonation of the glycosidic oxygen. Research into the immunogenicity of alginate polymer has brought together a consensus that the chemical composition and the mitogenic contaminants found in alginate are the two main reasons for reported immunogenicity. Grafting provides a method of adding certain desirable properties to a polysaccharide without greatly disturbing the strength and other mechanical properties of the polysaccharide. Nanoaggregates, nanocapsules, and nanospheres with diameters from 10 to 1000 nm in size hold enzymes, drugs, and other compounds by dissolving or entrapping them in, or attaching them to the particle's matrix.
