Glycogen as a Building Block for Advanced Biological Materials

Quinn A Besford; Francesca Cavalieri; Frank Caruso

Journal article

Glycogen as a Building Block for Advanced Biological Materials

Quinn A Besford, Francesca Cavalieri, Frank Caruso

Advanced Materials | Wiley | Published : 2020

DOI: 10.1002/adma.201904625

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Abstract

Biological nanoparticles found in living systems possess distinct molecular architectures and diverse functions. Glycogen is a unique biological polysaccharide nanoparticle fabricated by nature through a bottom‐up approach. The biocatalytic synthesis of glycogen has evolved over time to form a nanometer‐sized dendrimer‐like structure (20–150 nm) with a highly branched surface and a dense core. This makes glycogen markedly different from other natural linear or branched polysaccharides and particularly attractive as a platform for biomedical applications. Glycogen is inherently biodegradable, nontoxic, and can be functionalized with diverse surface and internal motifs for enhanced biofunction..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Francesca Cavalieri Author

Frank Caruso Author

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Funding Acknowledgements

This work was conducted and funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology (Project No. CE140100036). This research was also supported by the ARC under the Future Fellowship scheme (F.C., FT140100873). F.C. acknowledges the award of a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Principal Research Fellowship (GNT1135806). The authors gratefully acknowledge Marco Savioli, Agata Glab, and Pietro Pacchin Tomanin for assistance with illustrations and helpful discussions.