Author(s): Oliveira, Catarina ; Carvalho, Ana C. ; Reis, R. L. ; Neves, N. M. ; Martins, Albino ; Silva, Tiago H.
Date: 2020
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/88775
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): 3D in vitro models; ALGINATE; Carrageenan; Chitosan; Drug-delivery systems; Fucoidan; Mechanism
Cancer treatments do not achieve the desired therapeutic effects so far, mainly due to unwanted side effects, specifically the toxicity to healthy tissues. The use of natural compounds, namely marine-derived biopolymers, may offer a promising alternative which will be the main focus of this book chapter. Since fucoidan and chitosan have been reported to present anticancer activity as single bioactive agents, their use will be further explored and described in relation to their mechanisms of action. In addition, the use of the abovementioned polysaccharides, along with alginate and carrageenan, have been mostly explored for the development of drug-delivery systems which will be further analyzed. In the last section of this chapter, the development of three-dimensional in vitro models will be discussed focusing on chitosan- and/or alginate-based systems.
