Biomedical properties of chitosan: Application in tissue engineering

Abstract

Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field of research that applies the principles of engineering and the natural sciences to the development of biological substitutes, restoring, maintaining, or improving tissue functions. It combines clinical medicine, mechanical engineering, materials science and molecular biology. Chitosan is a very promising compound that can be used on a large scale in biomedicine as a carrier of drugs, surgical threads, dressing materials dedicated to accelerating wound healing and cell scaffolding in tissue engineering. It meets the most important criteria for biomaterials, such as compatibility, adequate mechanical properties, morphology and porosity, non-toxicity and biodegradability. Chitosan scaffolds can promote cell surface adhesion, differentiation and proliferation. It can be used to create various functional forms depending on the needs and requirements, including 3D hydrogels, 3D sponges, films and membranes and nanofibers. Due to its unique physicochemical properties, this biopolymer also has the potential to purify therapeutic proteins from bacterial endotoxins, which is currently an important problem in the purification of the end product in the context of medical applications. Currently, recombinant protein therapeutics are widely used in targeted therapies, tissue engineering and broadly understood regenerative medicine. That is why the coexisting, well-designed purification system of a protein product, which will not change its essential properties, is so important. This article is a review of current research on the use of bioactive materials based on chitosan in regenerative medicine of various tissues and organs (including cartilage and bone tissues, skin tissues or nervous tissue).