Hyaluronate and its derivatives for customized biomedical applications.
Since hyaluronate (HA) was firstly isolated from the vitreous of bovine eyes in 1934, HA has been widely investigated for various biomedical applications. As a naturally-occurring polysaccharide, HA has been used for joint lubrication and ocular treatment in its intact form due to the excellent biocompatibility, viscoelasticity, biodegradability, and hygroscopic properties. HA can be easily functionalized via the chemical modification of its carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. Recently, a variety of biological functions of HA have been explored and a number of customized applications have been investigated taking advantages of the interaction between HA and biological tissues. HA has been used for drug delivery to enhance the blood circulation time of drugs with target-specificity to HA receptors in the body. HA has been also used to prepare tissue engineering hydrogel scaffolds for the spatiotemporal control of encapsulated cells. In this review, we describe the key biological functions of HA in the body in terms of its structure, physical properties, biodistribution and interaction with HA receptors. After that, we describe unique advantages that allow HA to be applied in various biomedical fields. Finally, we report the conventional and newly emerging applications of HA and its derivatives under commercial development stages.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea.
Hyemin
H
Kim
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea.
Hyeonseon
H
Jeong
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea.
Seulgi
S
Han
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea.
Songeun
S
Beack
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea.
Byung Woo
BW
Hwang
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea.
Myeonghwan
M
Shin
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea.
Seung Soo
SS
Oh
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: skhanb@postech.ac.kr.
Sei Kwang
SK
Hahn
D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D053769:Nanocapsules / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
D053769:Nanocapsules; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid
Cancer therapy; Drug delivery; Hyaluronate; Joint lubrication; Ocular surgery; Tissue augmentation; Tissue engineering