Animal polysaccharides belong to a class of biological macromolecules. They are natural biopolymers with numerous advantages for biomedical applications, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-antigenicity and non-toxicity. Electrospinning is a versatile and facile technique which can produce continuous fibers with nanoscale from a wide range of natural and synthetic polymers. The review aims to provide an up-to-date overview of the preparation of animal polysaccharides nanofibers by electrospinning and their potential biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, wound healing, and drug delivery. Various animal polysaccharides including chitin and chitosan (CS), hyaluronic acid (HA), heparin and heparan sulfate (HS), and chondroitin sulfate (ChS), are discussed. The challenges and some useful strategies in electrospinning of animal polysaccharides also are summarized. In addition, future study of animal polysaccharides nanofibers by electrospinning is proposed.
Keywords: animal polysaccharides nanofibers; biomedical applications; drug delivery; electrospinning; tissue engineering; wound dressing.
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.