Natural hydrogels for cartilage regeneration: Modification, preparation and application

Publication date: Available online 14 October 2018Source: Journal of Orthopaedic TranslationAuthor(s): Lan Li, Fei Yu, Liming Zheng, Rongliang Wang, Wenqiang Yan, Zixu Wang, Jia Xu, Jianxiang Wu, Dongquan Shi, Liya Zhu, Xingsong Wang, Qing JiangAbstractHydrogels, consisting of hydrophilic polymers, can be used as films, scaffolds, nanoparticles and drug carriers. They are one of the hot research topics in material science and tissue engineering and are widely used in the field of biomedical and biological sciences. Researchers are seeking for a type of material that is similar to human tissues and can partially replace human tissues or organs. The hydrogel has brought possibility to solve this problem. It has good biocompatibility and biodegradability. After entering the body, it does not cause immune and toxic reactions. The degradation time can be controlled, and the degradation products are nontoxic and nonimmunogenic; the final metabolites can be excreted outside the body. Owing to the lack of blood vessels and poor migration ability of chondrocytes, the self-healing ability of damaged cartilage is limited. Tissue engineering has brought a new direction for the regeneration of cartilage. Drug carriers and scaffolds made of hydrogels are widely used in cartilage tissue engineering. The present review introduces the natural hydrogels, which are often used for cartilage tissue engineering with respect to synthesis, modification and application methods.
Source: Journal of Orthopaedic Translation - Category: Orthopaedics Source Type: research