Authors: El-Boubbou, Kheireddine; Huang, Xuefei

Source: Current Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 18, Number 14, May 2011 , pp. 2060-2078(19)

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

Abstract:

Over the past decade, diagnostics and therapeutics have changed gradually towards the use of more specific and targeted approaches. The most profound impact has been in the nanotechnology sectors, where an explosion in directing biomolecules to specific biomarkers has illustrated great potentials not only in detection but also in targeted therapy. Increased knowledge of the diseases at the molecular level catalyzed a shift towards identifying new biological indicators. In particular, carbohydrate-mediated molecular recognitions using nano-vehicles are likely to increasingly affect medicine opening a new area of biomedical applications. This article provides an overview of the recent progress made in recruiting the “sugar code” functionalized on various nano-platforms to decipher cellular information for both in vitro and in vivo applications. Today's glyco-technologies are enabling better detection with great therapeutic potentials. Tomorrow they are likely to bring a full understanding of the “cell-glyconanomaterial bio-conversation” where major biomedical problems will be overcome translating insights from the “glyco-nanoworld” into clinical practice.

Keywords: Magnetic glyconanoparticles; magnetic resonance imaging; gold glyconanoparticles; glyco-quantum dots; glyco-carbon nanotubes; glyco-nanomaterials; glyco-dendrimers; sugar code; biomarkers

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/092986711795656144

Publication date: 2011-05-01

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• Current Medicinal Chemistry covers all the latest and outstanding developments in medicinal chemistry and rational drug design. Each issue contains a series of timely in-depth reviews written by leaders in the field covering a range of the current topics in medicinal chemistry. Current Medicinal Chemistry is an essential journal for every medicinal chemist who wishes to be kept informed and up-to-date with the latest and most important developments.

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