3.7 Applications
55
the cross-linker. An improvement to this process is to combine rose bengal, chitosan
adhesive and laser at a wavelength of 532 nm (Lauto et al. 2010; Frost et al. 2016).
In the 1988 publication by Lantos, the various applications of plastics in the
medical field were reviewed. At a time when there was decreasing price of plastics,
it was appealing to evaluate the use of plastics in the medical field and ways of
improving the performance in already existing applications as well as expanding the
areas of applications. Today 30 years later, plastics have much wider applications
in the medical field: from disposable syringe to pacemaker coatings, to waterproof
aprons, to sutures to blood bags and protective eyewear. The key issues identified
at the time were improved blood compatibility, radiation resistance and improved
degradability.
3.7.5 Gene Therapy
In gene therapy, delivery of nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) into cells is often done via
viral infection, where the gene to be delivered is planted into a virus and the cell is
infected with the virus. Another alternative is to use transpection using polyplexes.
Chitosan has been widely investigated as a polyplex in DNA and RNA transfection.
The polycationic nature of chitosan, its non-toxic and biocompatibility as well as
being of renewable natural source make it a suitable alternative to other synthetic
more toxic polymers used as polyplexes such as polyethylenimine and polyamidoamine dendrimers. Chitosan can form non-toxic complexes with DNA and RNA
for use in gene transfection. Particularly, chitosan oligomers have been shown to
have better physical properties in terms of solution viscosity and stability at physiological pH than high-purity high molecular weight chitosan. Chitosan oligomers
with molecular weight between 18 and 20 demonstrate good non-viral gene delivery
properties (Koping-Hoggard et al. 2004).
More recently, chitosan/hyaluronic acid nanoparticles have been shown to be
effective in the delivery of mRNA to cell. This is promising in the area of cancer
treatment through expanding understanding of nucleic acid uptake and metabolism of
cancer cells with the potential to send mRNA to target cancer cells to stop their replication and inhibit growth of the tumor. The chitosan/hyaluronic acid nanoparticles
were more effective under acidic conditions (Lallana et al. 2017).
3.7.6 Anticancer Application
Cancer treatment is a highly significant area of interest, and chitin finds application
even in this field. Different studies have reported antitumor effect of chitin and
chitosan as well as their derivatives on a broad range of cancers including melanoma,
carcinoma, colon cancer, lung cancer, sarcoma and prostate cancer (Gibot et al. 2015;
You-Jin and Kim 2002). The mechanism by which chitin and its derivatives act against
55
the cross-linker. An improvement to this process is to combine rose bengal, chitosan
adhesive and laser at a wavelength of 532 nm (Lauto et al. 2010; Frost et al. 2016).
In the 1988 publication by Lantos, the various applications of plastics in the
medical field were reviewed. At a time when there was decreasing price of plastics,
it was appealing to evaluate the use of plastics in the medical field and ways of
improving the performance in already existing applications as well as expanding the
areas of applications. Today 30 years later, plastics have much wider applications
in the medical field: from disposable syringe to pacemaker coatings, to waterproof
aprons, to sutures to blood bags and protective eyewear. The key issues identified
at the time were improved blood compatibility, radiation resistance and improved
degradability.
3.7.5 Gene Therapy
In gene therapy, delivery of nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) into cells is often done via
viral infection, where the gene to be delivered is planted into a virus and the cell is
infected with the virus. Another alternative is to use transpection using polyplexes.
Chitosan has been widely investigated as a polyplex in DNA and RNA transfection.
The polycationic nature of chitosan, its non-toxic and biocompatibility as well as
being of renewable natural source make it a suitable alternative to other synthetic
more toxic polymers used as polyplexes such as polyethylenimine and polyamidoamine dendrimers. Chitosan can form non-toxic complexes with DNA and RNA
for use in gene transfection. Particularly, chitosan oligomers have been shown to
have better physical properties in terms of solution viscosity and stability at physiological pH than high-purity high molecular weight chitosan. Chitosan oligomers
with molecular weight between 18 and 20 demonstrate good non-viral gene delivery
properties (Koping-Hoggard et al. 2004).
More recently, chitosan/hyaluronic acid nanoparticles have been shown to be
effective in the delivery of mRNA to cell. This is promising in the area of cancer
treatment through expanding understanding of nucleic acid uptake and metabolism of
cancer cells with the potential to send mRNA to target cancer cells to stop their replication and inhibit growth of the tumor. The chitosan/hyaluronic acid nanoparticles
were more effective under acidic conditions (Lallana et al. 2017).
3.7.6 Anticancer Application
Cancer treatment is a highly significant area of interest, and chitin finds application
even in this field. Different studies have reported antitumor effect of chitin and
chitosan as well as their derivatives on a broad range of cancers including melanoma,
carcinoma, colon cancer, lung cancer, sarcoma and prostate cancer (Gibot et al. 2015;
You-Jin and Kim 2002). The mechanism by which chitin and its derivatives act against