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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Polyelectrolyte Complex for Heparin Binding Domain Osteogenic Growth Factor Delivery
Published on: August 22, 2016
β-Cyclodextrin-Functionalized Chitosan/Alginate Compact Polyelectrolyte Complexes (CoPECs) as Functional Biomaterials
Alexandre Hardy1, Cendrine Seguin1, Anaïs Brion1
1Faculté de Pharmacie , Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Laboratoire de Conception et Application de Molécules Bioactives UMR 7199 , 74 route du Rhin , 67401 Illkirch Cedex, France.
Abstract:
Nowadays, the need for therapeutic biomaterials displaying anti-inflammatory properties to fight against inflammation-related diseases is continuously increasing. Compact polyelectrolyte complexes (CoPECs) represent a new class of materials obtained by ultracentrifugation of a polyanion/polycation complex suspension in the presence of salt. Here, a noncytotoxic β-cyclodextrin-functionalized chitosan/alginate CoPEC was formulated, characterized, and described as a promising drug carrier displaying an intrinsic anti-inflammatory property. This new material was successfully formed, and due to the presence of cyclodextrins, it was able to trap and release hydrophobic drugs such as piroxicam used as a model drug. The intrinsic anti-inflammatory activity of this CoPEC was analyzed in vitro using murine macrophages in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin. In this model, it was shown that CoPEC inhibited LPS-induced TNF-α and NO release and moderated the differentiation of LPS-activated macrophages. Over time, this kind of bioactive biomaterial could constitute a new family of delivery systems and expand the list of therapeutic tools available to target inflammatory chronic diseases such as arthritis or Crohn's disease.
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