Biologically Active Chitosan Systems for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Abstract

Biodegradable polymeric scaffolds are widely used as a temporary extracellular matrix in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. By physical adsorption of biomolecules on scaffold surface, physical entrapment of biomolecules in polymer microspheres or hydrogels, and chemical immobilization of oligopeptides or proteins on biomaterials, biologically active biomaterials and scaffolds can be derived. These bioactive systems show great potential in tissue engineering in rendering bioactivity and/or specificity to scaffolds. This review highlights some of the biologically active chitosan systems for tissue engineering application and the associated strategies to develop such bioactive chitosan systems.

In vitro degradation behavior of chitosan based hybrid microparticles

“…Many investigations have published that the factor in controlling the rate of degradation has been shown to be inversely associated with CS's degree of deacetylation. Highly acetylated CS degrades rapidly, and highly deacetylated (> 80%) CS has low degradation rates and may remain several months in vivo [5,6,10,12,13,22]. …”

“…Controllable in the sense that degradation would match extracellular matrix formation, transfer structural and functional roles progressively to the newly formed bone while maintaining mechanical strength until tissue regeneration is almost completed, and finally be reabsorbed and metabolized by the body. The degradability of the biomaterial plays an important role in the long-term function of the engineered scaffold because it can affect many cellular process, including cell growth, tissue regeneration, and host response [1,4,5]. To find a suitable candidate that encompasses these aims, a variety of biomaterials have been researched for bone tissue engineering purposes, including biomaterials that can be synthetic or natural [3,5].…”

“…Chitin and its derivative chitosan (CS) are such natural biomaterials that can meet a variety of needs in the biomedical fields because their biological, physical, and chemical properties can be controlled and engineered under even mild processing conditions [4,6]. Mild processing conditions can avoid growth factor inactivation, allowing growth factors and other biomolecules to be incorporated into various composite forms for different applications [5]. Another favorable property of the derivative CS is that it can be molded into different forms and shapes; for example, powders, pastes, films, fibers, sponges, scaffolds, microparticles (MPs), and more have been made for various uses [7,8].…”

Anti-obesity effect of carboxymethyl chitin by AMPK and aquaporin-7 pathways in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

“…As a result, a number of chemical trials on the modification and application of chitin have been conducted to develop its water-soluble derivatives [11,12]. Carboxymethylation and deacetylation reactions were used in converting them to watersoluble forms, which may be useful in biomedical, foods, agricultural and other related industries [13][14][15].…”

The Use of Micro- and Nanospheres as Functional Components for Bone Tissue Regeneration

“…63 These micro-/ nanospheres have been widely used as drug delivery systems for pharmaceutical or tissue engineering applications because of the abundant functional groups in the chitosan polymer backbone that allow for further functionalization, 64 and the capacity of chitosan to form polyion complexes with charged proteins to obtain sustained release. 65,66 Of particular interest are that chitosan-based microspheres have been used as injectable bone fillers, which can encapsulate osteoconductive mineral (calcium phosphates [CaP]) particles in the microspheres followed by ionically crosslinking using tripolyphosphate. 67 In vitro studies confirmed the cytocompatibility of these chitosan-based microsphere constructs that support MSCs attachment and their subsequent proliferation and differentiation into the osteoblastic phenotype.…”