Amphiphilic Polysaccharides

Amphiphilic polysaccharides have emerged as pivotal players in cancer therapeutics, showcasing significant advancements with diverse applications. This focused chapter meticulously explores the physicochemical characterization of different amphiphilic polysaccharide polymers (chitosan, dextran, heparin), encompassing critical aspects such as polymer structural identification, critical aggregation concentration measurement, lower critical solution temperature (cloud point), calorimetric and thermogravimetric analysis, surface active properties, light scattering, zeta potential, morphology, and rheological behavior. The chapter concludes with a comprehensive summary customized for the cancer therapeutics, emphasizing the significant role of amphiphilic polysaccharides on shaping the future of cancer-focused biomedical science and technology. Their integration into cancer nanotechnology, delivery of drugs, tissue engineering, and diagnostics underscore the transformative potential of these polysaccharides in advancing targeted and effective cancer treatments. Polysaccharides, most hydrophilic natural compounds when chemically modified by grafting hydrophobic groups or linked to nonpolar molecules like lipid, result into unique amphiphilic structures with surface active properties. The disparate characteristics of the structural elements, enables distinguishing interfacial properties like spontaneous auto-association at gas-water or solid-water interface or self-assembly into micelles. Applications of surfactants are now spanned from the food and farming sectors to the pharmaceutical and biomedical sectors. Traditional amphiphilic polymers are typically comprised of non-degradable block copolymers, whereas, amphiphilic polysaccharides provide safe and biodegradable alternative. Polymeric micelles, self-assemblies of amphiphilic polymers, are employed as medication transporters and feature a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic shell. Because of intra-and/or intermolecular hydrophobic interactions, amphiphilic polysaccharides self-associate in an aqueous medium to create drug delivery systems such liposomes, hydrogels, nanoparticles, microspheres, and micelles. Apart from pharmaceutical field, amphiphilic polysaccharides are uniquely suited for the wide range of biomedical applications like developing novel synthetic biomolecules with surface active properties and development of biomaterials. By manipulating surfactant structures, new applications like tissue regeneration are also explored. This chapter focuses on the emerging novel exciting and promising applications of hydrophobic modification of 3 different polysaccharides namely, dextran, a neutral polysaccharide with hydroxyl groups; chitosan, a cationic polysaccharide with hydroxyl and amino groups and heparin, an anionic polysaccharide with hydroxyl and sulfonic acid groups.