Biomedical Application of Gel Materials Based on Self‐assembled Nanogels

Polymer gel particles, particularly nanogels, have gained significant attention in the field of nanomedicine for their potential applications in drug delivery systems (DDSs) and regenerative medicine. This chapter discusses the characteristics and applications of nanogel-based materials, focusing on physically cross-linked nanogels, protein encapsulation, vaccine nanocarriers, nanogel tectonic materials, and nanogel hybrid materials. Physically cross-linked nanogels, also known as self-assembling nanogels, are formed by the association of hydrophobized water-soluble polysaccharides and exhibit stimuli-responsive properties. These nanogels can encapsulate various water-soluble proteins and act as artificial molecular chaperones, preventing protein aggregation and assisting in protein refolding. Hydrophobized polysaccharide nanogels have been successfully applied as vaccine nanocarriers, particularly in cancer immunotherapy and intranasal vaccines for infectious diseases. Nanogel tectonic materials, constructed using nanogels as building blocks, have shown promise as bone regeneration scaffold materials and novel artificial extracellular matrices. Nanogel hybrid materials, such as nanogel/magnetic particle hybrids and nanogel/extracellular vesicle hybrids, have been developed for targeted drug delivery and enhanced cellular uptake. The biocompatibility of polysaccharides and the DDSs function of nanogels, resulting from their nanoscale size, make them promising candidates for various practical applications in nanomedicine and regenerative medicine.