Carbohydrate-based nanoparticles for potential applications in medicine

Chapter 4 of the Book "Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science", Volume 104, Year 2011, edited by Antonio Villaverde for Elsevier Inc., 2011: 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.