Glycopolymers in molecular recognition, biomimicking and glycotechnology: a review

Abstract

Glycopolymers are multifunctional bio-mimetic supramolecules that can emulate the functions of glycopeptides. Entitled to molecular recognition, these molecules appertain to amplify the original bio-molecular interactions with lectins. It is ubiquitous that glycopolymers offer the potential to be explored for targeted drug delivery and tumor cell treatment, unfolding new dawn in tissue engineering. Moreover, their self-assembly trait is advantageous in medical adhesives and implants. This review abridges gap, associating physiology of bio-recognition, glyco-polymeric integration, and chemical changes that follow. Techniques for synthesis of these artificial linkers, their properties, characterization analysis, and methodologies to improve binding rates and bioactivity of glycopolymers are also enlisted.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Bio-recognition
• biodegradability
• glycopolymers
• immobilization of glycopolymers
• targeted drug-delivery
• cancer cell therapy

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. C. P. Ramanarayanan, Vice-Chancellor of DIAT (DU), Pune for the support. The authors thank Mr Prakash Gore for the technical help due the course. The first author dedicates this paper to her grandfather Mr. Mukut Saxena. The first author also thanks her parents, Dr. Ashish Saxena and Dr. Pinku Sinha, for sharing their views on the physiology of recognition and suggesting reference literature. The first author acknowledges her brother Mr. Nipun Saxena for his inputs in designing the paper layout.