Great strides have been made in the area of hydrogel science since the first hydrogels were described in the 1960s. Hydrogelation occurs in response to a physical or chemical stimulus, such as temperature, pH, electric or magnetic field, enzymatic modification, light and others. These three-dimensional networks consisting of mainly water molecules represent a unique class of materials, with many applications including cell therapeutics, cartilage/bone regeneration, sustained drug release and drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, 3D bioprinting and extracellular culture medium (ECM) for cancer cells, stem cells and neuronal cells. ChemBioGels 2021 will feature on-going work in the area of hydrogel science.
Great strides have been made in the area of hydrogel science since the first hydrogels were described in the 1960s. Hydrogelation occurs in response to a physical or chemical stimulus, such as temperature, pH, electric or magnetic field, enzymatic modification, light and others. These three-dimensional networks consisting of mainly water molecules represent a unique class of materials, with many applications including cell therapeutics, cartilage/bone regeneration, sustained drug release and drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, 3D bioprinting and extracellular culture medium (ECM) for cancer cells, stem cells and neuronal cells. ChemBioGels 2021 will feature on-going work in the area of hydrogel science.
Great strides have been made in the area of hydrogel science since the first hydrogels were described in the 1960s. Hydrogelation occurs in response to a physical or chemical stimulus, such as temperature, pH, electric or magnetic field, enzymatic modification, light and others. These three-dimensional networks consisting of mainly water molecules represent a unique class of materials, with many applications including cell therapeutics, cartilage/bone regeneration, sustained drug release and drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, 3D bioprinting and extracellular culture medium (ECM) for cancer cells, stem cells and neuronal cells. ChemBioGels 2021 will feature on-going work in the area of hydrogel science.
Professor Ehud Gazit
Professor Ehud Gazit
Professor Miguel Gama
Injectable dextrin hydrogel as a carrier for bone regeneration
Short Abstract:
The worldwide incidence of bone disorders is increasing, mainly due to ageing population. The lack of effective treatments stimulates the development of novel synthetic bone substitutes (SBSs). Ceramic based-SBSs commercially available display poor handling properties. Attempting to overcome this shortcoming improving the acceptance of these formulations, granular ceramics have been associated with hydrogels. Hydrogels, particularly, in situ gelling hydrogels, allow the production of injectable formulations which may be administrated using minimally invasive procedures, able of perfect fitting to the irregularities of bone tissue defects.
Moreover, hydrogels mimic the native extracellular matrix and can act as cell/drug delivery systems. Dextrin is a low-molecular-weight carbohydrate obtained from starch. It is a low cost, broadly available raw material widely used in many industrial applications, such as adhesives in the manufacture of gummed tapes, textiles and paper, as moisturiser in cosmetics. However, as yet it is quite unexplored in the biomedical field. An injectable and in situ gelation hydrogel based on dextrin (HG) was developed aiming to act as a multifuctional, biocompatible and injectable matrix able to carry and stabilize other materials and/or cells in medical procedures.
Thus, this work aimed to assess the biocompatibility and safety of the HG for clinical utilization and its ability to act as a carrier and stabilizer for Bonelike® (BL) granules, a SBS produced by Bioskin, SA, in order to obtain a formulation with improved handling properties, such as mouldability and injectability, and bioactivity.
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Short CV:
Miguel Gama is Associate Professor at the University of Minho and leader of the research group FUNCARB of the Centre of Biological Engineering. His research activity has been mainly dedicated to enzyme technologies (in particular cellulases) and the development of applications of polysaccharides in several fields, such as in food, cosmetics, textiles and biomedical. Miguel Gama is co-founder of a spinoff (Satisfibre) dedicated to the development of a technology for the large scale production of bacterial cellulose, as well as it´s applications. Is the author of 190 papers with an h-index of 42 (Scopus).