title: Recent advances in the use of gelatin in biomedical research.
abstract: The biomacromolecule, gelatin, has increasingly been used in biomedicine-beyond its traditional use in food and cosmetics. The appealing advantages of gelatin, such as its cell-adhesive structure, low cost, off-the-shelf availability, high biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immunogenicity, among others, have made it a desirable candidate for the development of biomaterials for tissue engineering and drug delivery. Gelatin can be formulated in the form of nanoparticles, employed as size-controllable porogen, adopted as surface coating agent and mixed with synthetic or natural biopolymers forming composite scaffolds. In this article, we review recent advances in the versatile applications of gelatin within biomedical context and attempt to draw upon its advantages and potential challenges.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Manufacturing Flagship, Bayview Avenue, Clayton, VIC, 3169, Australia.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, N22-6011, Taipa, Macau, Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China. cmwang@umac.mo.
authors.forename: Chunming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D035843:Biomedical Research; D005780:Gelatin; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D044968:Regenerative Medicine; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005780:Gelatin
keywords: Collagen; Composite materials; Drug delivery; Gelatin; Regenerative medicine; Tissue engineering