CHAPTER 7: Biomaterials: Protein Interactions with Glycosaminoglycan-Based Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering
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Published:18 Nov 2015
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Special Collection: RSC eTextbook CollectionProduct Type: Textbooks
M. C. Goude, T. Miller, T. C. McDevitt, and J. S. Temenoff, in Mimicking the Extracellular Matrix: The Intersection of Matrix Biology and Biomaterials, ed. G. A. Hudalla and W. L. Murphy, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015, pp. 219-259.
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Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are linear, negatively charged polysaccharides that interact with a variety of positively harged growth factors. In order to form tissue-engineered constructs, GAGs can be easily chemically modified for assembly into carriers of cells and biomolecules. Such modifications generally include functionalization to form three-dimensional scaffolds for a wide range of applications. However, chemical modifications can have effects on protein binding, as well as affect degradation processes, which, in turn, influence molecular release characteristics. Therefore, this chapter provides a review of GAG structure and protein-binding properties as well mechanisms of GAG degradation, followed by specific examples of how different modified GAG species have been employed in tissue-engineered constructs. Overall, GAG-based polymers are a versatile biomaterial platform offering novel means to engineer cellular and molecular delivery with a high degree of control in order to better treat a range of degenerate or injured tissues.