Tissue Eng Regen Med.  2018 Oct;15(5):547-557. 10.1007/s13770-018-0155-5.

In Situ Cross-Linkable Hydrogels as a Dynamic Matrix for Tissue Regenerative Medicine

• Park KM
• Park KD

• KMID: 2422670
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-018-0155-5

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Polymeric hydrogels are extensively used as promising biomaterials in a broad range of biomedical applications, including tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and drug delivery. These materials have advantages such as structural similarity to the native extracellular matrix (ECM), multi-tunable physicochemical and biological properties, and biocompatibility.
METHODS
In situ forming hydrogels show a phase transition from a solution to a gel state through various physical and chemical cross-linking reactions. These advanced hydrogel materials have been widely used for tissue regenerative medicine because of the ease of encapsulating therapeutic agents, such as cells, drugs, proteins, and genes.
RESULTS
With advances in biomaterials engineering, these hydrogel materials have been utilized as either artificial cellular microenvironments to create engineered tissue constructs or as bioactive acellular matrices to stimulate the native ECM for enhanced tissue regeneration and restoration.
CONCLUSION
In this review, we discuss the use of in situ cross-linkable hydrogels in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. In particular, we focus on emerging technologies as a powerful therapeutic tool for tissue regenerative medicine applications.

Keyword

Polymeric hydrogels; In situ cross-linkable hydrogels; Tissue engineering; Tissue regenerative medicine

MeSH Terms

Biocompatible Materials
Cellular Microenvironment
Extracellular Matrix
Hydrogel*
Hydrogels*
Phase Transition
Polymers
Regeneration
Regenerative Medicine*
Tissue Engineering
Biocompatible Materials
Hydrogel
Hydrogels
Polymers