Progress in the development of nitric oxide-releasing biomaterials and their biomedical applications

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) is an essential signaling molecule that participates in various important physiological and pathological processes, such as angiogenesis, neuronal transmission, immunomodulation, and tumor growth. The multifunctional roles of NO in biological processes have substantially increased interest in research regarding effective strategies in delivering exogenous NO for biomedical applications. The development of various NO prodrugs, such as organic nitrates, diazeniumdiolates, S -nitrosothiols, furoxan nitrogen oxides, and metal-nitrosyls, continue to undergo innovative modifications to improve NO payload and to prolong NO release. However, the clinical application of these low-molecular-weight NO donors is limited due to problems associated with burst release and untargeted delivery. The tunable administration of NO by biomaterial-based carriers offers an attractive and efficient strategy to achieve a controlled and targeted delivery of NO to specialized tissues or organs. In this review, we summarize the progress made in the development of NO donors and NO delivery systems and highlight potential biomedical applications aiming to inspire new perspectives in the field of biomaterial-based NO delivery systems.