Carriero, V.C.; Di Muzio, L.; Petralito, S.; Casadei, M.A.; Paolicelli, P. Cryogel Scaffolds for Tissue-Engineering: Advances and Challenges for Effective Bone and Cartilage Regeneration. Gels2023, 9, 979.
Carriero, V.C.; Di Muzio, L.; Petralito, S.; Casadei, M.A.; Paolicelli, P. Cryogel Scaffolds for Tissue-Engineering: Advances and Challenges for Effective Bone and Cartilage Regeneration. Gels 2023, 9, 979.
Carriero, V.C.; Di Muzio, L.; Petralito, S.; Casadei, M.A.; Paolicelli, P. Cryogel Scaffolds for Tissue-Engineering: Advances and Challenges for Effective Bone and Cartilage Regeneration. Gels2023, 9, 979.
Carriero, V.C.; Di Muzio, L.; Petralito, S.; Casadei, M.A.; Paolicelli, P. Cryogel Scaffolds for Tissue-Engineering: Advances and Challenges for Effective Bone and Cartilage Regeneration. Gels 2023, 9, 979.
Abstract
Critical sized bone defects and articular cartilage injuries resulting from trauma, osteonecrosis or age-related degeneration are often nonhealing by the physiological repairing mechanisms, thus representing a clinic issue due to the relevant epidemiological incidence. Current treatment approaches consist of autologous or allogenic grafting, which are associated with painfulness, morbidity, risk of infections and rejection. Novel tissue-engineering approaches, aiming at the reconstruction of damaged tissues, have been proposed as alternative solutions to these conven-tional methods. These approaches are based on the combination of three fundamental compo-nents: autologous or allogenic cells, a scaffold and growth-stimulating signals, which are gener-ally referred to as the tissue engineering triad. Three-dimensional polymer networks are fre-quently used as scaffolds to allow cell proliferation and tissue regeneration. In this scenario, cryogels are giving promising results as cell scaffolds over other polymer networks, thanks to their peculiar properties. In particular, cryogels possess an interconnected porous structure and a typical sponge-like behaviour, which facilitate the cellular infiltration and ingrowth. Their properties can be appropriately adjusted to match the requirements of the specific tissue or or-gan that it is intended to regenerate. In this review it is reported the state of the art on the fabri-cation and employment of cryogels in supporting osteo or chondro-genic differentiation for the re-building of more organized tissues. Moreover, it will highlight current progress and future perspectives in the implementation of this technology in the clinical practice.
Keywords
cryogels; scaffolds; tissue engineering; bone reconstruction; cartilage reconstruction
Subject
Chemistry and Materials Science, Biomaterials
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
,
,
,
