Biomimetic applications hydrogels

Another interesting biomimetic application of transglutaminase is the possibility to obtain in situ gelling hydrogels. In these approaches, polymer crosslinking and gel formation are modeled on crosslinking operations found in biology. 

Potential applications of peptide-polymer conjugates include drug delivery materials, optoelectronics, biosensors, tissue scaffolds, tissue replacement materials, hydrogels, adhesives, biomimetic polymers, lithographic masks, and templates for metallic or silica nanostructures. 

Whittaker J, Balu R, Choudhury NR, Dutta NK (2014) Biomimetic protein-based elastomeric hydrogels for biomedical applications. Polym Int 63 1545-1557. doi 10.1002 1.4670... 

Although the feasibility of aqueous lubrication with elastomers and hydrogels has been established, the poor mechanical properties and wear resistance of soft materials have been limiting factors for applications. However, it has been shown that the mechanical properties of hydrogels can be improved to a similar level as those of elastomers 17). Thus, there is hope that hydrogels can be used in applications where mechanical strength is required. The practical implementation of biomimetic, aqueous lubrication approaches may become a reaUty in the not-too-distant future. 

Different biomimetic approaches exploiting enzymatic methods using tyrosinase have been used to prepare protein-polysaccharides conjugates and to create hydrogels from biopolymers for tissue engineering application. 

Fig. 7.4 Bio-inspired 3D liver detoxification device. Polydiacetylene nanoparticles (greeri) are installed in poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate hydrogel matrix (grey) with liver-mimetic 3D structure fabricated by 3D printing. The nanoparticles attract, capture and sense toxins (red), while the 3D matrix with modified liver lobule structure allows toxins to be trapped efficiently. This biomimetic 3D detoxifier has promising clinical application for detoxification by collecting and removing toxins. Reproduced from [164]...

For fabrication of biomimetic hydrogel for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications, a range of synthetic and protein-based polymer scaffolds, such as albumin, collagen, gelatin, elastin, proteoglycan, hyaluronan, laminin, silk fibroin, soybean, fibrinogen, and fibrin have been widely used (Rajangam and An, 2013). 

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