School of Sciences, University of Louisiana Monroe, Monroe, LA, USA.
McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
J Biomater Sci Polym Ed. 2022 Jul;33(10):1324-1347. doi: 10.1080/09205063.2022.2054398. Epub 2022 Mar 24.
Tissue engineering is a multidisciplinary field that focuses on creating functional tissue through the combination of biomimetic scaffolds, a cell source, and biochemical/physiochemical cues. Stem cells are often used as the cell source due to their multipotent properties and autologous sourcing; however, the combination of physical and chemical cues that regulate their behavior creates challenges in reproducibly directing them to a specific fate. Hydrogel biomaterials are widely explored as tissue scaffolds due to their innate biomimetic properties and tailorability. For these constructs to be successful, properties such as surface chemistry and spatial configuration, stiffness, and degradability of the biomaterial used for the scaffold framework should be analogous to the natural environment of the tissue they are repairing/replacing. This is imperative, as cues from the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) influence stem cell behavior and direct cell differentiation to a specific lineage. Hydrogels offer great promise as tools to control stem cell fate, as researchers can modulate the degradation rates, mechanical properties, swelling behavior, and chemical properties of the biomaterial scaffold to mimic the instructive cues of the native ECM. Discussion of the advantages and challenges of utilizing hydrogel biomaterials as the basis of tissue scaffolds is reviewed herein, as well as specific examples of hydrogels in tissue engineering and advances in hydrogel research to achieve desired cell phenotypes.
组织工程学是一个多学科领域，专注于通过仿生支架、细胞来源和生化/物理化学线索的结合来创建功能性组织。由于具有多能性和自体来源，干细胞通常被用作细胞来源；然而，调节其行为的物理和化学线索的结合在可重复地将其引导到特定命运方面带来了挑战。水凝胶生物材料由于其内在的仿生特性和可定制性而被广泛探索作为组织支架。为了使这些构建体成功，用于支架框架的生物材料的表面化学和空间构型、刚度和降解性等特性应与它们修复/替代的组织的自然环境相似。这是至关重要的，因为来自周围细胞外基质 (ECM) 的线索会影响干细胞行为并将细胞分化为特定谱系。水凝胶作为控制干细胞命运的工具具有很大的潜力，因为研究人员可以调节生物材料支架的降解速率、机械性能、溶胀行为和化学性质，以模拟天然 ECM 的指导线索。本文综述了将水凝胶生物材料用作组织支架基础的优势和挑战，以及水凝胶在组织工程中的具体实例和实现所需细胞表型的水凝胶研究进展。
