title: Injectable alginate hydrogels for cell delivery in tissue engineering.
abstract: Alginate hydrogels are extremely versatile and adaptable biomaterials, with great potential for use in biomedical applications. Their extracellular matrix-like features have been key factors for their choice as vehicles for cell delivery strategies aimed at tissue regeneration. A variety of strategies to decorate them with biofunctional moieties and to modulate their biophysical properties have been developed recently, which further allow their tailoring to the desired application. Additionally, their potential use as injectable materials offers several advantages over preformed scaffold-based approaches, namely: easy incorporation of therapeutic agents, such as cells, under mild conditions; minimally invasive local delivery; and high contourability, which is essential for filling in irregular defects. Alginate hydrogels have already been explored as cell delivery systems to enhance regeneration in different tissues and organs. Here, the in vitro and in vivo potential of injectable alginate hydrogels to deliver cells in a targeted fashion is reviewed. In each example, the selected crosslinking approach, the cell type, the target tissue and the main findings of the study are highlighted.
authors: INEB - Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 823, 4150-180 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: sbidarra@ineb.up.pt.
authors: Sílvia J
authors: SJ
authors: Bidarra
authors: INEB - Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 823, 4150-180 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: ccbarrias@ineb.up.pt.
authors: Cristina C
authors: CC
authors: Barrias
authors: INEB - Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 823, 4150-180 Porto, Portugal; FEUP - Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Departamento de Engenharia Metalúrgica e de Materiais, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: pgranja@ineb.up.pt.
authors: Pedro L
authors: PL
authors: Granja
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007267:Injections; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020100:Hydrogels; D020723:Glucuronic Acid
keywords: Alginate; Cell delivery; Injectable; Regeneration; Tissue engineering