Alginate Hydrogels as Scaffolds and Delivery Systems to Repair the Damaged Spinal Cord

Grijalvo, Santiago and Nieto-Diaz, Manuel and Maza, Rodrigo M. and Eritja, Ramon and Diaz Diaz, David (2019) Alginate Hydrogels as Scaffolds and Delivery Systems to Repair the Damaged Spinal Cord. BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL, 14 (12spec): 1900275. ISSN 1860-6768, 1860-7314

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Abstract

Alginate (ALG) is a lineal hydrophilic polysaccharide present in brown algae cell walls, which turns into a gel state when hydrated. Gelation readily produces a series of three dimensional (3D) architectures like fibers, capillaries, and microspheres, used as biosensors and bio-actuators in a plethora of biomedical applications like drug delivery and wound healing. Hydrogels have made a great impact on regenerative medicine and tissue engineering because they are able to mimic the mechanical properties of natural tissues due to their high water content. Recent advances in neurosciences have led to promising strategies for repairing and/or regenerating the damaged nervous system. Spinal cord injury (SCI) is particularly challenging, owing to its devastating medical, human, and social consequences. Although effective therapies to repair the damaged spinal cord (SC) are still lacking, multiple pharmacological, genetic, and cell-based therapies are currently under study. In this framework, ALG hydrogels constitute a source of potential tools for the development of implants capable of promoting axonal growth and/or delivering cells or drugs at specific damaged sites, which may result in therapeutic strategies for SCI. In this mini-review, the current state of the art of ALG applications in neural tissues for repairing the damaged spinal cord is discussed.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM; PROMOTES AXONAL REGENERATION; NEURAL STEM-CELLS; LOCAL-DELIVERY; SCHWANN-CELLS; FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY; IN-VITRO; EXTRACELLULAR-MATRIX; CHITOSAN HYDROGEL; GROWTH-FACTOR; alginate; biomaterial; bioprinting; central nervous system; neural tissue engineering; regenerative medicine; spinal cord injury
Subjects: 500 Science > 540 Chemistry & allied sciences
Divisions: Chemistry and Pharmacy > Institut für Organische Chemie > Arbeitskreis Prof. Dr. David Díaz Díaz
Depositing User: Petra Gürster
Date Deposited: 07 Apr 2020 08:30
Last Modified: 07 Apr 2020 08:30
URI: https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/25831

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