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Biophysical functionality in polysaccharides: from Lego-blocks to nano-particles

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Abstract

The objective of the paper is to show the very important biophysical concepts that have been developed with polysaccharides. In particular, an attempt will be made to relate “a posteriori” the fundamental aspects, both experimental and theoretical, with some industrial applications of polysaccharide-based materials. The overview of chain conformational aspects includes relationships between topological features and local dynamics, exemplified for some naturally occurring carbohydrate polymers. Thus, by using simulation techniques and computational studies, the physicochemical properties of aqueous solutions of polysaccharides are interpreted. The relevance of conformational disorder–order transitions, chain aggregation, and phase separation to the underlying role of the ionic contribution to these processes is discussed. We stress the importance of combining information from analysis of experimental data with that from statistical–thermodynamic models for understanding the conformation, size, and functional stability of industrially important polysaccharides. The peculiar properties of polysaccharides in industrial applications are summarized for the particularly important example of nanoparticles production, a field of growing relevance and scientific interest.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge contributions by several former co-workers to the results summarized here; the original papers are cited. Original TEM picture in Fig. 1 has been kindly provided by A. Marchini and F. Ortolani, that in Fig. 9 by P. Blasi and A. Rampino. The recent work has been carried out in the framework of NanoBioPharmaceutics (FP6 EU Project no. 026723-2) with support from the University of Trieste. MB is the recipient of a grant from MIUR (Rome).

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  1. Laboratory of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry, Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri, 1, 34127, Trieste, Italy

    Attilio Cesàro, Barbara Bellich & Massimiliano Borgogna

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  1. Attilio Cesàro
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  2. Barbara Bellich
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  3. Massimiliano Borgogna
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Correspondence to Attilio Cesàro.

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Special Issue: Biophysics of cosmetics.

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Cesàro, A., Bellich, B. & Borgogna, M. Biophysical functionality in polysaccharides: from Lego-blocks to nano-particles. Eur Biophys J 41, 379–395 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-011-0753-9

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