Data_Sheet_1_Development of Multifunctional Biopolymeric Auto-Fluorescent Micro- and Nanogels as a Platform for Biomedical Applications.pdf

The emerging field of theranostics for advanced healthcare has raised the demand for effective and safe delivery systems consisting of therapeutics and diagnostics agents in a single monarchy. This requires the development of multi-functional bio-polymeric systems for efficient image-guided therapeutics. This study reports the development of size-controlled (micro-to-nano) auto-fluorescent biopolymeric hydrogel particles of chitosan and hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) synthesized using water-in-oil emulsion polymerization technique. Sustainable resource linseed oil-based polyol is introduced as an element of hydrophobicity with an aim to facilitate their ability to traverse the blood-brain barrier (BBB). These nanogels are demonstrated to have salient features such as biocompatibility, stability, high cellular uptake by a variety of host cells, and ability to transmigrate across an in vitro BBB model. Interestingly, these unique nanogel particles exhibited auto-fluorescence at a wide range of wavelengths 450–780 nm on excitation at 405 nm whereas excitation at 710 nm gives emission at 810 nm. In conclusion, this study proposes the developed bio-polymeric fluorescent micro- and nano- gels as a potential theranostic tool for central nervous system (CNS) drug delivery and image-guided therapy.

面向先进医疗保健的新兴治疗诊断学（theranostics）领域，对兼具治疗剂与诊断剂的单模态高效安全递送系统提出了迫切需求，这推动了适配影像引导治疗的多功能生物聚合物系统的研发。本研究报道了采用油包水乳液聚合法合成的尺寸可控（微米级至纳米级）的壳聚糖与羟乙基纤维素（HEC）基自发荧光生物聚合物水凝胶颗粒。本研究引入可持续资源亚麻籽油基多元醇作为疏水性组分，以提升其穿越血脑屏障（BBB）的能力。实验证明，该纳米凝胶具备多项优异性能：生物相容性良好、稳定性优异，可被多种宿主细胞高效摄取，且能够跨体外血脑屏障模型迁移。值得注意的是，这类独特的纳米凝胶颗粒在405 nm激发下，可在450–780 nm的宽波长范围内展现自发荧光；而在710 nm激发时，其发射波长为810 nm。综上，本研究提出所制备的生物聚合物荧光微米与纳米凝胶，有望成为中枢神经系统（CNS）药物递送与影像引导治疗的潜在治疗诊断工具。