Bioapplications of hyperbranched polymers
Hyperbranched polymers (HBPs), an important subclass of dendritic macromolecules, are highly branched, three-dimensional globular nanopolymeric architectures. Attractive features like highly branched topological structures, adequate spatial cavities, numerous terminal functional groups and convenien...
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| Published in | Chemical Society reviews Vol. 44; no. 12; pp. 423 - 471 |
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| Main Authors | , , , , |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
England
21.06.2015
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| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Hyperbranched polymers (HBPs), an important subclass of dendritic macromolecules, are highly branched, three-dimensional globular nanopolymeric architectures. Attractive features like highly branched topological structures, adequate spatial cavities, numerous terminal functional groups and convenient synthetic procedures distinguish them from the available polymers (the linear, branched, and crosslinking polymers). Due to their unique physical/chemical properties, applications of HBPs have been explored in a large variety of fields. In particular, HBPs exhibit unique advantages in the biological and biomedical systems and devices. Firstly, the way to prepare HBPs usually only involves simple one-pot reactions and avoids the complicated synthesis and purification procedures, which makes the manufacturing process more convenient, thus reducing production costs. Secondly, the large number of end-groups of HBPs provides a platform for conjugation of the functional moieties and can also be employed to tailor-make the properties of HBPs, enhancing their versatility in biological applications. Thirdly, HBPs possess excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability, controlled responsive nature, and ability to incorporate a multiple array of guest molecules through covalent or noncovalent approaches. All of these features of HBPs are of great significance for designing and producing biomaterials. To date, significant progress has been made for the HBPs in solving some of the fundamental and technical questions toward their bioapplications. The present review highlights the contribution of HBPs to biological and biomedical fields with intent to aid the researchers in exploring HBPs for bioapplications.
The recent research progress in biological and biomedical applications of hyperbranched polymers has been summarized in this review. |
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| Bibliography: | Dali Wang received his BSc degree in Polymer Materials and Engineering from Donghua University in 2009. Then he pursued his PhD degree under the supervision of Prof. Xinyuan Zhu in School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Currently, his current research interests are focused on the synthesis and biomedical application of functional polymers. Wenxin Wang received his BSc degree from Si Chuan University in 1990, and obtained his PhD from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1999. He became a Research Fellow at University of Liege in Belgium in 2000 and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham in UK in 2001. Then, he joined the National University of Ireland, Galway in Ireland as a Lecturer. In 2013, he joined the University College Dublin as a Senior Lecturer. His current research focusses on functional polymeric materials via controlled/living polymerization techniques, therapeutic drugs/DNA/RNA delivery and stem cell therapy for wound healing. Xinyuan Zhu received his BSc and MSc degrees in Materials Science from Donghua University, and obtained his PhD in Materials Science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2001. Then, he joined the BASF research laboratory at ISIS in Strasbourg as a post-doctoral researcher. In 2005, he became a full professor for Chemistry at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. His current research interests focus on the controlled preparation of functional polymers and their biomedical applications. Deyue Yan received his BSc degree in Chemistry from Nankai University and MSc degree in Polymer Chemistry from Jilin University. In 2002, he obtained his PhD degree in Polymer Chemistry from Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He began his work at East China University of Science and Technology as a lecturer in 1966, and then moved to Tongji University in 1980 as an associate professor. From 1987 to date, he has been a full professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His current research interests focus on the supramolecular self-assembly of functional polymers and their biomedical applications. Tianyu Zhao received his BSc degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Tianjin University in 2007 and obtained his MSc degree in Chemistry from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2011. He then pursued his PhD degree under the supervision of Dr Wenxin Wang in School of Medicine and Medical Science at University College Dublin. Currently, his current research interests focus on hyperbranched polymer design for gene and cell therapy. ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 ObjectType-Review-3 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 0306-0012 1460-4744 1460-4744 |
| DOI: | 10.1039/c4cs00229f |