The use of polymer based composites in the treatment of skin tissue damages, has got huge attention in clinical demand, which enforced the scientists to improve the methods of biopolymer designing in order to obtain highly efficient system for complete restoration of damaged tissue. In last few decades, chitosan-based biomaterials have major applications in skin tissue engineering due to its biocompatible, hemostatic, antimicrobial and biodegradable capabilities. This article overviewed the promising biological properties of chitosan and further discussed the various preparation methods involved in chitosan-based biomaterials. In addition, this review also gave a comprehensive discussion of different forms of chitosan-based biomaterials including membrane, sponge, nanofiber and hydrogel that were extensively employed in skin tissue engineering. This review will help to form a base for the advanced applications of chitosan-based biomaterials in treatment of skin tissue damages.

Recent advancements in applications of chitosan-based biomaterials for skin tissue engineering

Chitosan hydrogels in 3D printing for biomedical applications.

Differential Roles of M1 and M2 Microglia in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Background Chitosan oligosaccharides (COSs) are the degraded products prepared from the deacetylation and depolymerization of chitin or chitosan using physical, chemical, or enzymatic hydrolysis. In comparison to chitosan and chitin, COS, the hydrolyzed form, has lower molecular weight, lower degree of polymerization (DP), higher degree of deacetylation (DD), less viscosity, more solubility, absorbability though GI tract, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and exposed N-glucosamine units. These properties provide beneficial effects and great potential for biomedical and life science applications. Scope and approach The prominent biological activities of COSs include anti-bacteria, anti-fungi, anti-tumor, immunoregulation, antioxidant, and anti-inflammation that are effective for the therapy and prevention of many life-threatening diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and serious infections. Key findings and conclusions Compared with chitin, COSs have outstanding advantages: 1) they are easily soluble in water; 2) they have no antigenicity; 3) they have weak accumulation effect in host body. Moreover, COSs have excellent biological activities in various aspects. Therefore, the development prospect is very broad. However, the research on the preparation and mechanism of COSs is not deep enough so far. The COSs prepared by the present methods are very limited, so they are expensive, and their application is limited. How to produce these COSs on a large scale with low cost and high yield, elucidating their mechanism of action, and preparing into the medicament that is easy to dissolve, easy to absorb and easy to use in the body environment, have become the focus of current research. It is believed that with the efforts of many scholars, COSs will benefit mankind in the near future.

Preparation and biological activities of chitosan oligosaccharides

Chitin and chitosan are natural polysaccharides with huge application potential in agriculture, such as promoting plant growth, eliciting plant resistance against biotic and abiotic stress, and activating symbiotic signaling between plants and beneficial microorganisms. Chitin and chitosan offer a sustainable alternative for future crop production. The bioactivities of chitin and chitosan closely depend on their structural factors, including molecular size, degree of acetylation, and pattern of acetylation. It is of great significance to identify the key fragments in chitin and chitosan chains that are responsible for these agricultural bioactivities. Herein, we review the recent progress in the structure-function relationship of chitin and chitosan in the field of agriculture application. The preparation of chitin and chitosan fragments and their action mode for plant protection and growth are also discussed.

Qi-Gang Zhou

Papers

Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS): An overview

Cerebrovascular inflammation: A critical trigger for neurovascular injury?

New application of an old drug proparacaine in treating epilepsy via liposomal hydrogel formulation.