Biohybrid Hydrogels

These results clearly demonstrate how cell adhesion onto the developed set of biohybrid materials can be easily timed through the choice of PEG-content and biomolecular functionalisation. More advanced functionalisation schemes additionally utilize non-covalent loading of growth and differentiation factors to locally induce the formation of capillary endothelial cell networks. Based on that, the novel biohybrid hydrogel can be expected to offer valuable extensions of various tissue engineering strategies. 

Moreover, by combining naturally derived polymers with synthetic building blocks, hybrid materials can be created offering both a defined functionality and biocompatibility as well as a high adaptability in terms of composition and structure. In the production of such hybrid systems, PEG is one of the most commonly used synthetic components since it provides excellent bio-compatibility, a hydrophilic and uncharged character, and the possibility to easily modify its terminal end groups. Some biohybrid hydrogel materials will be presented in Section 5.5. 

In the subsequent sections, the current state of related studies will be briefly summarized focusing on basic principles and selected examples of biohybrid hydrogels. 

Second session had title Bio-medical Polymers and included 11 lectures. Participants of the conference had discussed the next problems functionalized nanoparticles and nanocapsules as markers and nanocarriers in biomedical applications, smart hydrogels for biomedical applications, injectable biodegradable hydrogels for protein and cell delivery, biohybrid hydrogels for regenerative therapies, biodegradable polymers for biomedical applications, design and function of DNA and protein nanoparticles. 

---