Soochow University, Suzhou, People's Republic of China.
Biomacromolecules. 2011 Jun 13;12(6):1937-55. doi: 10.1021/bm200043u. Epub 2011 Apr 26.
Currently, biomedical engineering is rapidly expanding, especially in the areas of drug delivery, gene transfer, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. A prerequisite for further development is the design and synthesis of novel multifunctional biomaterials that are biocompatible and biologically active, are biodegradable with a controlled degradation rate, and have tunable mechanical properties. In the past decades, different types of α-amino acid-containing degradable polymers have been actively developed with the aim to obtain biomimicking functional biomaterials. The use of α-amino acids as building units for degradable polymers may offer several advantages: (i) imparting chemical functionality, such as hydroxyl, amine, carboxyl, and thiol groups, which not only results in improved hydrophilicity and possible interactions with proteins and genes, but also facilitates further modification with bioactive molecules (e.g., drugs or biological cues); (ii) possibly improving materials biological properties, including cell-materials interactions (e.g., cell adhesion, migration) and degradability; (iii) enhancing thermal and mechanical properties; and (iv) providing metabolizable building units/blocks. In this paper, recent developments in the field of α-amino acid-containing degradable polymers are reviewed. First, synthetic approaches to prepare α-amino acid-containing degradable polymers will be discussed. Subsequently, the biomedical applications of these polymers in areas such as drug delivery, gene delivery and tissue engineering will be reviewed. Finally, the future perspectives of α-amino acid-containing degradable polymers will be evaluated.
目前，生物医学工程正在迅速发展，特别是在药物输送、基因转移、组织工程和再生医学领域。进一步发展的前提是设计和合成新型多功能生物材料，这些材料具有生物相容性和生物活性、可生物降解且降解速度可控、具有可调节的机械性能。在过去几十年中，已经积极开发了不同类型的含α-氨基酸的可降解聚合物，旨在获得仿生功能生物材料。将α-氨基酸用作可降解聚合物的结构单元可能具有以下几个优点：(i)赋予化学功能，如羟基、胺基、羧基和巯基，不仅提高了亲水性并可能与蛋白质和基因相互作用，而且还便于用生物活性分子（例如药物或生物信号）进行进一步修饰；(ii)可能改善材料的生物性能，包括细胞-材料相互作用（例如细胞黏附、迁移）和可降解性；(iii)增强热性能和机械性能；以及 (iv)提供可代谢的结构单元/块。本文综述了含α-氨基酸的可降解聚合物领域的最新进展。首先，将讨论制备含α-氨基酸的可降解聚合物的合成方法。随后，将综述这些聚合物在药物输送、基因输送和组织工程等领域的生物医学应用。最后，将评估含α-氨基酸的可降解聚合物的未来前景。
