Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
8.3.4.5 Ester Formation with Activated Compounds
Serban and Prestwich synthesised hyaluronic acid bromoacetate
(HABA) by using bromoacetic anhydride [43]. The authors used this
method to prepare crosslinker-free hydrogels by thiol alkylation using
HABA as a polyvalent electrophile and thiol-modified HA (with or
without thiol-modified gelatin) as a polyvalent nucleophile.
8.4 Hyaluronic Acid Derivatives for Biomedical
Applications
Hyaluronic acid have unique physicochemical properties and
distinctive biological functions, which promoted development of its
derivatives for various biomedical applications such as for arthritis
treatment, ophthalmic surgery, drug delivery and tissue engineering
[23, 44-46]. An overview of various HA derivatives and their
respective biomedical applications is given in
Table 8.1
.
8.4.1 Hyaluronic Acid for Drug Delivery Applications
HA is used as an efficient carrier to deliver drug cargo, exploiting its
biocompatibility, biodegradability, unique CD44 targeting ability and
high drug loading capacity. Many small molecule drugs, especially
anticancer drugs, have low water solubility, low specificity and short
in vivo
half-life. By exploiting the biophysical properties of HA for
delivering these small molecules, several of these limitations can be
overcome. HA based drug delivery carriers can increase the solubility
of hydrophobic drugs, prolong drug residence time
in vivo
, preserve
drug activities and promote targeted delivery to specific tissue.
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