Functionalized nanoparticles with natural-derived polymers for intracellular drug delivery and cell-tracking in Tissue Engineering

The great developments in nanotechnology have been responsible for major achievements in cell- and tissue-engineering. The increasing number of nanoparticles (NP’s) synthesized and the possibility for tuning its biological and physicochemical properties by means of functionalization have allowed the effective conjugation to biologicals while facilitate the cellular uptake of the particles with tracking of the intracellular fate. Our group has been functionalizing different nanosystems (e.g. dendrimer-based NP’s and gold nanorods) with natural-derived polymers as a strategy to improve biocompatibility, enhance NP’s uptake by cells and investigate cell fate. The developed surface engineering strategies represent the future of therapeutic approaches envisioning the intracellular delivery of biologicals and controlling stem cells behaviour in vitro and in vivo, which can open new therapeutic possibilities in the field of tissue engineering.