Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications

Abstract

Hydrogels have been widely applied in biomedical applications, such as drug delivery and tissue engineering, due to their many favorable characteristics. Their high water content renders them compatible with living tissues and proteins and their rubbery nature minimizes damage to the surrounding tissue. Their mechanical properties parallel those of soft tissues, making them particularly appealing for engineering of these tissues. Hydrogels used in tissue engineering are preferably biodegradable, thus further surgery, after the hydrogels has performed its function, is not required. Also, biodegradable hydrogels allow for the replacement of the hydrogels over time by the extracellular matrix produced when cells are incorporated. The biofunctionality of hydrogels is essential to guide cellular behavior such as proliferation, differentiation, and matrix production. An on-demand biofunction can be obtained by the incorporation of growth factors into hydrogels to enhance cellular prolife­ration in the tissue-engineered matrices.