Application of Degradable Polymers for the Treatment of Wounds and Tumors

Abstract

Degradable polymers are of great significance in bacteriostatic and cancer treatment. Biodegradable biomaterials have the characteristics of high safety, good environmental protection and good therapeutic effect. This article mainly introduces the application of the polymerization strategy in the biomedical field. In the direction of bacteriostasis, degradable polymers provide a series of new and effective ideas for researchers. For example, the biodegradable antimicrobial gene vector based on tobramycin, a kind of antibiotic, coupled with polyaspartic acid (TPT) effectively realized the antimicrobial treatment and restoration of skin damage. A multifunctional injectable hydrogel dressing that integrates electrical conductivity, good antioxidant capacity and antibacterial properties has been designed to treat skin injuries. Supramolecular polymers with strong antibacterial effect and controllable degradability were used to prepare biodegradable antibiotics to enhance the antibacterial effect of antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria. In addition, degradable polymers also show great potential in the treatment of cancer. For example, scientists have discovered that drug release can be triggered from tumor-targeted polymer nanoparticles through the process of polymer degradation mediated by reactive oxygen species. The development of a rapidly degraded chitosan based multilayer controlled release membrane provides a theoretical basis for the preparation of customized multilayer membranes for drug administration. The adoption of the concept of the macromolecular engineering, which mixes drugs with polymers, opens up a new way to design polymer biodegradable drug delivery systems. Thus, the potential of biodegradable polymers in various interdisciplinary fields has been highly valued, and they will be more widely used in production and life in the future.