Cellularized hydrogels

Liu Tsang V, Chen AA, Cho LM, Jadin KD, Sah RL, DeLong S, West JL, Bhatia SN. Fabrication of 3D hepatic tissues by additive photopatteming of cellular hydrogels. FASEB J 2007 21 790-801. 

Jeong and coworkers have reported peptide-based thermo-gelling systems using PEG-b-polyAla as an injectable cellular scaffold [315]. The polymer aqueous solution undergoes sol-gel transition as temperature increases. The fraction of the p-sheet structure of the poly Ala dictated the population and thickness of fibrous nanostructure in the hydrogel, which affected the proliferation and protein... 

Keywords Bioactive Biomaterials Biomimetic Cellular infiltration Electrospinning Extracellular matrix Hydrogels Nanofibers Polymer scaffolds Tissue... 

Semino, C.E., Shen, C., Sherley, J., and Zhang, S. Cellular Reprogramming in Peptide Hydrogel and Uses Thereof, 2003-US21981 2004007683 (2004). 

Plant, G.W. Woerly, S. Harvey, A.R. Hydrogels containing peptide or aminosugar sequences implanted into the rat brain influence on cellular migration and axonal growth. Exp. Neurol. 1997, 143, 287-299. 

Ranucci CS, Kumar A, Batra SP, Moghe PV (2000) Control of hepatocyte function on collagen foams sizing matrix pores toward selective induction of 2-D and 3-D cellular morphogenesis. Biomaterials 21(8) 783-793 Rowley JA, Madlambayan G, Mooney DJ (1999) Alginate hydrogels as synthetic extracellular matrix materials. Biomaterials 20(1) 45-53... 

In this chapter, recent progress on the study and development of hydrogels with tough mechanical strength, low frictional coefficient, and cellular viability will be described. Furthermore, attempts to apply such gels as substitutes for biological tissues will be introduced. 

To mimic the macromolecular-based ECM in biological tissue, the cell adhesion and proliferation properties of hydrogels are critical parameters. However, various hydrogels that originate from natural resources, such as alginate [87], chitosan [88, 89], and hyaluronic acid [90], and that are synthetically created, such as poly (7V-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) [91], PEO [92], PVA [93], and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) [94], show a poor cellular viability without modification with cell adhesive proteins or peptides, such as collagen, laminin, fibronectin, and the RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) sequence. 

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