Hyaluronic Acid: A Versatile Polysaccharide for Biomedical Applications

Dear Colleagues,

hyaluronic acid (HA), a naturally occurring anionic polysaccharide, has attracted significant research attention in biomedical field since it possesses well-documented biocompatibility and pharmaceutical acceptability. Due to its strong hydrophilic character and its high molecular weight in biological tissues, it presents important structural and functional roles in the body. Such high molar mass is associated to its unique viscoelastic and rheological properties and predispose HA to play important physiological roles in living organisms and make it an attractive biomaterial for various medical applications.

HA-based hydrogels were designed to function as scaffolds for tissue engineering, for soft tissue augmentation, and drug delivery. Due to its multiple functional groups available for chemical conjugation, several HA–drug conjugates can be developed as macromolecular prodrugs. Otherwise, amphiphilic HA derivatives can be synthesized by chemically grafting several hydrophobic moieties so as to produce HA-based micellar systems for the release of hydrophobic drugs. Since HA can also specifically bind CD44 and RHAMM receptors, which are overexpressed in many key forms of cancer, it has also been chemically anchored onto manifold drug-loaded micro and nano-sized polymeric or liposomal particles.

This Special Issue aims to highlight the current progress in the field of HA based biomaterials, by a multidisciplinary approach covering the expertise in polymer science, pharmaceutical technology, bioconjugate chemistry, biology and medicine of the contributing authors.

Prof. Dr. Laura Mayol
Dr. Sabato Fusco
Guest Editors

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