Thermoresponsive nanocomposite hydrogels with cell-releasing behavior
Hydrogels can be formed from polymers, and by using different combinations of polymers theses hydrogels can exhibit different properties. The specific hydrogels in question have the ability to change between a hydrophobic surface and a hydrophilic interface.
The fact that cells prefer to grow and form tissues on a hydrophobic surface has caused problems in attempting to separate them from this medium. The use of enzymes or chelating agents, which are known to cause damage to some of the cells, was the old method of separation. And due to the fact that cells were being damaged in their removal, this is obviously not a preferred method. Now with the use of this thermoresponsive hydrogel cells can be detached from their scaffold with no damage.
This new technology has very diverse sets of applications. Because of the fact that these particular hydrogels are responsive to temperature as opposed to light, they can be used inside the human body to coat sensors and keep them from becoming encapsulated by the body. They can also be used to grow tissues in the lab for testing purposes, and possible in the future as technology progresses they can become part of a system that allows us to more easily generate tissue outside the body to be used for transplant to a patient.
The reason that I chose this article is because my Mother suffers from diabetes, and one of the up and coming technologies to help people with this condition is a glucose sensor that can be delivered under the skin. This will allow patients to no longer be constantly sticking themselves and drawing blood, but instead to check a sort of interface that interacts with the sensor that is inside the patient. In theory with a coating of this hydrogel the sensor can be kept clean an allowed to function inside the body uninhibited.
Article was found here:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961208002330
The fact that cells prefer to grow and form tissues on a hydrophobic surface has caused problems in attempting to separate them from this medium. The use of enzymes or chelating agents, which are known to cause damage to some of the cells, was the old method of separation. And due to the fact that cells were being damaged in their removal, this is obviously not a preferred method. Now with the use of this thermoresponsive hydrogel cells can be detached from their scaffold with no damage.
This new technology has very diverse sets of applications. Because of the fact that these particular hydrogels are responsive to temperature as opposed to light, they can be used inside the human body to coat sensors and keep them from becoming encapsulated by the body. They can also be used to grow tissues in the lab for testing purposes, and possible in the future as technology progresses they can become part of a system that allows us to more easily generate tissue outside the body to be used for transplant to a patient.
The reason that I chose this article is because my Mother suffers from diabetes, and one of the up and coming technologies to help people with this condition is a glucose sensor that can be delivered under the skin. This will allow patients to no longer be constantly sticking themselves and drawing blood, but instead to check a sort of interface that interacts with the sensor that is inside the patient. In theory with a coating of this hydrogel the sensor can be kept clean an allowed to function inside the body uninhibited.
Article was found here:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961208002330
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