Abstract
Hydrogels from different materials can be used in biomedical field as an innovative approach in regenerative medicine. Depending on the origin source, hydrogels can be synthetized through chemical and physical methods. Hydrogel can be characterized through several physical parameters, such as size, elastic modulus, swelling and degradation rate. Lately, research is focused on hydrogels derived from biologic materials. These hydrogels can be derived from protein polymers, such as collage, elastin, and polysaccharide polymers like glycosaminoglycans or alginate among others. Introduction of decellularized tissues into hydrogels synthesis displays several advantages compared to natural or synthetic based hydrogels. Preservation of natural molecules such as growth factors, glycans, bioactive cryptic peptides and natural proteins can promote cell growth, function, differentiation, angiogenesis, anti-angiogenesis, antimicrobial effects, and chemotactic effects. Versatility of hydrogels make possible multiple applications and combinations with several molecules on order to obtain the adequate characteristic for each scope. In this context, a lot of molecules such as cross link agents, drugs, grow factors or cells can be used. This review focuses on the recent progress of hydrogels synthesis and applications in order to classify the most recent and relevant matters in biomedical field.
Highlights
Biomaterials have been a great matter of interest in the past years, they are already been used in many biomedical fields and continue to be studied worldwide as there are countless types and represent a great potential in the achievable applications
Elastin is a very important protein for the extracellular matrix (ECM) structure, it is not used as often as other proteins in hydrogel production; this is because the proteins used in biomaterials have to be pure, elastin need to be purified from the elastic fibers that form during its synthesis
Regenerative medicine generates very high expectations, which are not met by current technologies
Summary
Biomaterials have been a great matter of interest in the past years, they are already been used in many biomedical fields and continue to be studied worldwide as there are countless types and represent a great potential in the achievable applications They are described as “any substance or combination of substances, of natural or synthetic origin, which can be used on a clearly defined time period as a whole or a part of a system that treats, speeds healing or replace tissues, organs or a function of the human body” or as “any substance that has been engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose”, they offer a possible solution as scaffolds, drug delivery systems, cell culture systems and biological substitutes for tissue engineering. The network is formed by crosslinking polymers with covalent bonds or noncovalent interactions and their structure can be designed to suit the final application Their unique ability to absorb and retain water is given by their hydrophilic nature, the amount of water they absorb depends on factors like the hydrogel structure, the crosslink density, the composition of the solution and the technique used to synthetize it. Every different type of hydrogel can be tailored to suite the application it is designed for, hydrogels will be made using different techniques to give them the necessary chemical and physical properties
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