Soluble Molecule Transport Within Synthetic Hydrogels in Comparison to the Native Extracellular Matrix

Abstract

Soluble molecule signalling and gradient formation are of known biological importance and direct many biological processes. Because there are many similarities between synthetic hydrogels and the native extracellular matrix (ECM), synthetic hydrogels can serve as model systems for the study of soluble molecule signalling and gradient formation in biological systems. Additionally, drug delivery technologies, bioactive peptides, and degradable polymer chemistries have all been incorporated into hydrogels to recapitulate many of the aspects of soluble transport that are found in the native ECM. Though transport within hydrogels and the native ECM have both been extensively reviewed, the purpose of this chapter is to compare and contrast the two. How does transport of soluble molecules within synthetic hydrogels compare to that in the native ECM, and how can synthetic hydrogels be made to more closely mimic the signalling of the native ECM? In this chapter, well-known, fundamental models of molecular transport are used to introduce and discuss parameters that influence soluble molecule signalling and gradient formation, with a particular emphasis on emerging bioinspired approaches to mimic the natural ECM.