Self-Assembled Gels for Biomedical Applications

Natural and synthetic gel‐like materials have featured heavily in the development of biomaterials for wound healing and other tissue‐engineering purposes. More recently, molecular gels have been designed and tailored for the same purpose. When mixed with, or conjugated to therapeutic drugs or bioact...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemistry, an Asian journal Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 30 - 42
Main Authors: Truong, Warren Ty, Su, Yingying, Meijer, Joris T., Thordarson, Pall, Braet, Filip
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 03.01.2011
WILEY‐VCH Verlag
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Biocompatible Materials - chemistry
biomaterials
Biomedical materials
Chemistry
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical
gels
Gels - chemistry
medicinal chemistry
Models, Biological
Molecular Sequence Data
self-assembly
sol-gel processes
Tissue Engineering
Wound Healing
ISSN:1861-4728, 1861-471X, 1861-471X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Natural and synthetic gel‐like materials have featured heavily in the development of biomaterials for wound healing and other tissue‐engineering purposes. More recently, molecular gels have been designed and tailored for the same purpose. When mixed with, or conjugated to therapeutic drugs or bioactive molecules, these materials hold great promise for treating/curing life‐threatening and degenerative diseases, such as cancer, osteoarthritis, and neural injuries. This focus review explores the latest advances in this field and concentrates on self‐assembled gels formed under aqueous conditions (i.e., self‐assembled hydrogels), and critically compares their performance within different biomedical applications, including three‐dimensional cell‐culture studies, drug delivery, and tissue engineering. Although stability and toxicity issues still need to be addressed in more detail, it is clear from the work reviewed here that self‐assembled gels have a bright future as novel biomaterials. Self‐assembled medicine! Emerging medical applications of self‐assembled gels (see picture) based on interactions between these materials with cells and tissues, such as drug delivery, 3D cell cultures, and tissue engineering, are discussed.
Bibliography:ArticleID:ASIA201000592
Australian Research Council - No. DP0985059
AMMRF at the Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis
ark:/67375/WNG-GVR6GPQF-1
University of Sydney
NSW Cancer Institute - No. 08/RFG/1-29
University of New South Wales
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ISSN:1861-4728
1861-471X
1861-471X
DOI:10.1002/asia.201000592