Rheolution's Resources in Life Sciences

Hydrogels are biomaterials that are widely studied in the biomedical field. They are used, for example, to produce contact lenses and wound dressings, for drug release systems, or as scaffolds for tissue engineering. The design of such hydrogels is often multidimensional since multiple parameters related to their chemical composition and physical properties affect how they are going to behave in vivo.

Alginate is a polysaccharide present as a structural component of algae and a capsular component of soil bacteria. The polysaccharide is typically obtained from brown seaweed and used in many industries such as medical, pharmaceutical, food, textile due to its viscosifying, gelling and stabilizing properties.

The field of regenerative medicine comprises different strategies to replace or restore diseased and damaged tissues and organs. It includes tissue-engineered products that rely on the combination of biomaterials, cells and inductive biomolecules to promote tissue and organ regeneration.

All cells in the human body are exposed to mechanical forces which regulate cell function and tissue development, and each cell type is specifically adapted to the mechanical properties of the tissue it resides in. The matrix properties of human tissues can also change with disease and in turn facilitate its progression.

The emerging field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have the noble goal to develop lab-grown human tissues or alternative biomaterials to assist in their self-healing. In order to be functional in the human body, these biomaterials need to meet specific requirements of the intended site of implantation both in terms of biological, biochemical, and physical properties.

Gelatin and hyaluronic acid (HA) are biomaterials widely used in the biomedical research field. HA is the most abundant glycosaminoglycan in the body and is an important component of several tissues. HA contributes to tissue hydrodynamics, movement and proliferation of cells, and participates in a number of cell surface receptor interactions.