Project summary 

Nanotechnology is the focus of considerable attention due to the facility with which nanostructures interact with the body at the molecular scale. New therapies are being developed in order to improve the specificity and efficacy of drug delivery, thus reaching maximal effectiveness with minimal side effects. Drug delivery has been an important axis of biotechnology research, its goal being to deliver a specific agent to a precise site of action to produce a desired pharmacological effect. The challenge of developing drug delivery systems (DDS) is their biodegradability. Nanoparticles prepared from a wide range of polymers have already showed their efficacy to improve the bioavailability and the pharmacokinetic properties of approved drugs. The polyesters (PEs) present a class of polymers holding the ester functional group as the linkage between the individual monomers, exhibit great flexibility, and high elasticity and demonstrate varying degrees of biodegradability. The main objective of the present project is the preparation of a new biphasic biomaterial as a DDS, i.e. drug-loaded polymeric core-shell particles embedded in a hydrogel, starting from original PE-based copolymers by a simple, reproducible and scalable preparation process without the use of any toxic compounds. Several physicochemical and biological tests will be used in order to assess the biomaterial properties of the obtained systems and their use for the treatment of oral infections.