Hydrogels, due to their unique biocompatibility, flexible methods of synthesis, range of constituents, and desirable physical characteristics, have been the material of choice for many applications in regenerative medicine. They can serve as scaffolds that provide structural integrity to tissue constructs, control drug and protein delivery to tissues and cultures, and serve as adhesives or barriers between tissue and material surfaces. In this work, the properties of hydrogels that are important for tissue engineering applications and the inherent material design constraints and challenges are discussed. Recent research involving several different hydrogels polymerized from a variety of synthetic and natural monomers using typical and novel synthetic methods are highlighted. Finally, special attention is given to the microfabrication techniques that are currently resulting in important advances in the field.

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Hydrogels in regenerative medicine

Protein release from alginate matrices.

Chemical syntheses of biodegradable polymers

Enzyme stability and stabilization—Aqueous and non-aqueous environment

Polymer biodegradation: mechanisms and estimation techniques.

A method for the production of spherical alginate gels from few μm up to several mm diameter is described. Alginate beads with diameters from 0.5 to 3 mm are used to immobilize microorganisms as biocatalysts. Micro size alginate gels are used as column packing material for inverse steric exclusion chromatography to determine their pore sizes from dextran standards of known molecular weight. The results indicate that alginate gels have pores which are large enough to release catalytic acting enzymes out of the matrix.

Pore size and properties of spherical Ca-alginate biocatalysts

Cells ofCandida tropicalis were immobilized in polyacrylamide polystyrene and aluminium alginate. These preparations were used for the degradation of phenol. The relative rate of phenol oxidation of immobilized cells was 28% as compared with suspended cells.

Joachim Klein

Papers

Pore size and properties of spherical Ca-alginate biocatalysts

Immobilisation of microbial cells in polymeric matrices

Molecular weight determination of poly(acrylamide) and poly(acrylamide‐co‐sodium acrylate)

Enzymatic degradation of a model polyester by lipase from Rhizopus delemar

Immobilisation and mechanical, support of individual protoplasts.