The application of natural polymer-based hydrogels in tissue engineering

Hydrogels are attractive scaffolding materials owing to their highly swollen network structure, ability to encapsulate cells and bioactive molecules, and efficient mass transfer. Due to their impressive hydrophilic characteristics and cell non-cytotoxicity, the hydrogels based on natural polymers are useful tissue engineering tools for the organization of cells and tissues and organ regeneration. By the way, the hydrogels can also provide molecularly tailored biofunctions and adjustable mechanical properties, as well as an extracellular matrix-like microenvironment for cell growth and tissue formation. Many biomedical engineers and researchers have recently begun to utilize hydrogels as tissue or cell culture environments and as scaffolds for the stable growth of organs in tissue engineering and regeneration medicine. This chapter wants to summarize the recent progress in various strategies of the design and synthesis of hydrogels as tissue-engineering scaffolds with extracellular matrix-mimetic bioactive properties, such as cell adhesion, proteolytic degradation and growth factor-binding.