Disulfide-cleavage-triggered chemosensors and their biological applications

Researchers discuss disulfide-cleavage-triggered chemosensors and their biological applications. Disulfide-based functionalization for biological applications has been widely used in the development of chemosensors, prodrugs, polymer hydrogels, nanomaterial carriers, and other agents, as they are biodegradable in the presence of thiols or in reducing milieus. Disulfide-functionalized nanoparticle and organic polymer hydrogels could be utilized as delivery carriers that have also been rapidly developed over a period of time. Disulfide-based encapsulating drug carriers are more resistant to reduction, as these capsular structures are held together by a series of disulfide bonds rather than by a single linkage. Disulfide-based hydrogels are also important polymer materials as drug delivery carriers or tissue regeneration scaffolds in the field of biomedicine, due to their high water content, permeability, and molecular diffusivity.