Laboratory of GlycoNanotechnology, Biofunctional Nanomaterials Unit, CIC biomaGUNE, Paseo Miramón 182, Parque Tecnológico de San Sebastián, Spain.
Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2011;104:141-73. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-416020-0.00004-8.
Although carbohydrates are essential for life, the development of medical tools based on these important biomolecules is significantly slower than those based on proteins or nucleic acids. This chapter deals with the applications of nanoparticles decorated with carbohydrates and discusses the perspectives of their use in the field of medicine. The review is divided into two sections: diagnosis and therapy. Within these topics, the focus will be on two main types of systems: carbohydrate-coated metallic nanoparticles in which the carbohydrate ligands are "covalently" linked to a nanosized metallic cluster and polysaccharide-encapsulated metallic cores. The former glyconanoparticles (GNPs) represent a powerful chemical tool in the field of glycobiology as a specific carbohydrate can be selected to exert a concrete biological function and profile carbohydrate-based interactions. Up to now, these GNPs have been mainly used as potential anti-adhesion agents against pathogens. The opportunity of inserting multifunctionality and changing the nucleus size/material is giving birth to new targeted systems for imaging and therapy. On the other hand, nonmetallic polysaccharide-based nanoparticles have been successfully used as drug delivery carriers in addition to molecular imaging.
虽然碳水化合物对生命至关重要，但基于这些重要生物分子的医学工具的发展速度明显慢于基于蛋白质或核酸的工具。本章介绍了用碳水化合物修饰的纳米粒子的应用，并讨论了它们在医学领域应用的前景。这篇综述分为两部分：诊断和治疗。在这些主题中，重点将放在两种主要类型的系统上：碳水化合物涂层的金属纳米粒子，其中碳水化合物配体通过“共价键”与纳米级金属簇相连；以及多糖包裹的金属核。前者糖纳米粒子（GNPs）作为糖生物学领域的强大化学工具，因为可以选择特定的碳水化合物来发挥具体的生物学功能，并分析基于碳水化合物的相互作用。到目前为止，这些 GNPs 主要被用作抗病原体的潜在抗黏附剂。多功能性的插入和核大小/材料的改变为成像和治疗带来了新的靶向系统。另一方面，除了分子成像外，基于非金属多糖的纳米粒子已成功用作药物递送载体。
