Hydrogel Biomaterials: a Smart Future?

Overview

Journal Biomaterials

Specialty Biomedical Engineering

Date 2007 Aug 19

PMID 17697712

Citations 175

Authors

Jindrich Kopecek

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Hydrogels were the first biomaterials developed for human use. The state-of-the-art and potential for the future are discussed. Recently, new designs have produced mechanically strong synthetic hydrogels. Protein-based hydrogels and hybrid hydrogels containing protein domains present a novel advance; such biomaterials may self-assemble from block or graft copolymers containing biorecognition domains. One of the domains, the coiled coil, ubiquitously found in nature, has been used as an example to demonstrate the developments in the design of smart hydrogels. The application potential of synthetic, protein based, DNA based, and hybrid hydrogels bodes well for the future of this class of biomaterials.

Citing Articles

Advances in Conductive Biomaterials for Cardiac Tissue Engineering: Design, Fabrication, and Functional Integration.

Khan T, Vadivel G, Ayyasamy K, Murugesan G, Sebaey T Polymers (Basel). 2025; 17(5).

PMID: 40076113 PMC: 11902469. DOI: 10.3390/polym17050620.

A Comparative Analysis of the Water Retention Properties of Hydrogels Prepared from Melon and Orange Peels in Soils.

Fang S, Zhong Y, Wu J, Xie Y, Cai L, Li M Gels. 2025; 11(1).

PMID: 39851979 PMC: 11765002. DOI: 10.3390/gels11010008.

3D Printable Poly(-isopropylacrylamide) Microgel Suspensions with Temperature-Dependent Rheological Responses.

Guan Z, Katla S, Dahanayake V, Bae J ACS Appl Polym Mater. 2024; 6(23):14095-14105.

PMID: 39697841 PMC: 11650633. DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.3c03230.

Single-Component Starch-Based Hydrogels for Therapeutic Delivery.

Pulvirenti A, Boccia A, Constantin C, Surcel M, Munteanu A, Peteu V Molecules. 2024; 29(22).

PMID: 39598852 PMC: 11597573. DOI: 10.3390/molecules29225463.

Radio frequency gradient enhanced diffusion-edited semi-solid state NMR spectroscopy for detailed structural characterization of chemically modified hyaluronic acid hydrogels.

Sakhaii P, Bohorc B, Olpp T, Mohnicke M, Rieke-Zapp J, Dhal P Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):28612.

PMID: 39562623 PMC: 11577061. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-78731-6.

References

Ulbrich K, Strohalm J, Kopecek J . Polymers containing enzymatically degradable bonds. VI. Hydrophilic gels cleavable by chymotrypsin. Biomaterials. 1982; 3(3):150-4. DOI: 10.1016/0142-9612(82)90004-7. View

Nakabayashi N, Williams D . Preparation of non-thrombogenic materials using 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine. Biomaterials. 2003; 24(13):2431-5. DOI: 10.1016/s0142-9612(03)00113-3. View

Hubbell J . Materials as morphogenetic guides in tissue engineering. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2003; 14(5):551-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2003.09.004. View

Mirkin C, LETSINGER R, Mucic R, Storhoff J . A DNA-based method for rationally assembling nanoparticles into macroscopic materials. Nature. 1996; 382(6592):607-9. DOI: 10.1038/382607a0. View

Wang C, Stewart R, Kopecek J . Hybrid hydrogels assembled from synthetic polymers and coiled-coil protein domains. Nature. 1999; 397(6718):417-20. DOI: 10.1038/17092. View

Kopecek J . Smart and genetically engineered biomaterials and drug delivery systems. Eur J Pharm Sci. 2003; 20(1):1-16. DOI: 10.1016/s0928-0987(03)00164-7. View

Check E . Scientists rethink approach to HIV gels. Nature. 2007; 446(7131):12. DOI: 10.1038/446012a. View

Prince J, McGrath K, DiGirolamo C, Kaplan D . Construction, cloning, and expression of synthetic genes encoding spider dragline silk. Biochemistry. 1995; 34(34):10879-85. DOI: 10.1021/bi00034a022. View

Chen J, Park H, Park K . Synthesis of superporous hydrogels: hydrogels with fast swelling and superabsorbent properties. J Biomed Mater Res. 1999; 44(1):53-62. DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4636(199901)44:1<53::aid-jbm6>3.0.co;2-w. View

10.

Seeman N, Belcher A . Emulating biology: building nanostructures from the bottom up. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002; 99 Suppl 2:6451-5. PMC: 128548. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.221458298. View

11.

Yang J, Xu C, Kopeckova P, Kopecek J . Hybrid hydrogels self-assembled from HPMA copolymers containing peptide grafts. Macromol Biosci. 2006; 6(3):201-9. DOI: 10.1002/mabi.200500208. View

12.

Xu C, Kopecek J . Genetically engineered block copolymers: influence of the length and structure of the coiled-coil blocks on hydrogel self-assembly. Pharm Res. 2007; 25(3):674-82. DOI: 10.1007/s11095-007-9343-z. View

13.

Shen W, Kornfield J, Tirrell D . Structure and mechanical properties of artificial protein hydrogels assembled through aggregation of leucine zipper peptide domains. Soft Matter. 2020; 3(1):99-107. DOI: 10.1039/b610986a. View

14.

Condon A . Designed DNA molecules: principles and applications of molecular nanotechnology. Nat Rev Genet. 2006; 7(7):565-75. PMC: 7097529. DOI: 10.1038/nrg1892. View

15.

Kopecek J . Polymer chemistry: swell gels. Nature. 2002; 417(6887):388-9, 391. DOI: 10.1038/417388a. View

16.

Ding K, Alemdaroglu F, Borsch M, Berger R, Herrmann A . Engineering the structural properties of DNA block copolymer micelles by molecular recognition. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2007; 46(7):1172-5. DOI: 10.1002/anie.200603064. View

17.

Hoffman A . Hydrogels for biomedical applications. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2002; 54(1):3-12. DOI: 10.1016/s0169-409x(01)00239-3. View

18.

Drury J, Mooney D . Hydrogels for tissue engineering: scaffold design variables and applications. Biomaterials. 2003; 24(24):4337-51. DOI: 10.1016/s0142-9612(03)00340-5. View

19.

Um S, Lee J, Park N, Kwon S, Umbach C, Luo D . Enzyme-catalysed assembly of DNA hydrogel. Nat Mater. 2006; 5(10):797-801. DOI: 10.1038/nmat1741. View

20.

Elvin C, Carr A, Huson M, Maxwell J, Pearson R, Vuocolo T . Synthesis and properties of crosslinked recombinant pro-resilin. Nature. 2005; 437(7061):999-1002. DOI: 10.1038/nature04085. View