Polymers 2012, 4(3), 1590-1612; doi:10.3390/polym4031590
Review

Hydrogel-Based Platforms for the Regeneration of Osteochondral Tissue and Intervertebral Disc

Vincenzo Guarino* email, Antonio Gloriaemail, Maria Grazia Raucciemail and Luigi Ambrosio* email
Institute of Composite and Biomedical Materials, National Research Council of Italy, P.le Tecchio 80, Naples 80125, Italy
* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 16 April 2012; in revised form: 19 July 2012 / Accepted: 6 September 2012 / Published: 14 September 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from the 3rd International Congress on Biohydrogels (Biohydrogels 2011))
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Abstract: Hydrogels currently represent a powerful solution to promote the regeneration of soft and hard tissues. Primarily, they assure efficient bio-molecular interactions with cells, also regulating their basic functions, guiding the spatially and temporally complex multi-cellular processes of tissue formation, and ultimately facilitating the restoration of structure and function of damaged or dysfunctional tissues. In order to overcome basic drawbacks of traditional synthesized hydrogels, many recent strategies have been implemented to realize multi-component hydrogels based on natural and/or synthetic materials with tailored chemistries and different degradation kinetics. Here, a critical review of main strategies has been proposed based on the use of hydrogels-based devices for the regeneration of complex tissues, i.e., osteo-chondral tissues and intervertebral disc.
Keywords: hydrogels; osteochondral tissue; disc nucleus; scaffolds; tissue regeneration

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Guarino, V.; Gloria, A.; Raucci, M.G.; Ambrosio, L. Hydrogel-Based Platforms for the Regeneration of Osteochondral Tissue and Intervertebral Disc. Polymers 2012, 4, 1590-1612.

AMA Style

Guarino V, Gloria A, Raucci MG, Ambrosio L. Hydrogel-Based Platforms for the Regeneration of Osteochondral Tissue and Intervertebral Disc. Polymers. 2012; 4(3):1590-1612.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Guarino, Vincenzo; Gloria, Antonio; Raucci, Maria Grazia; Ambrosio, Luigi. 2012. "Hydrogel-Based Platforms for the Regeneration of Osteochondral Tissue and Intervertebral Disc." Polymers 4, no. 3: 1590-1612.

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