Semih Özen

Master student

Alginate-based hydrogels for soft tissue engineering

 

Supervisor: Faina Bider, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Alginate, obtained from brown algae, is a well-known polysaccharide for biomedical applications which exhibits an ability to form hydrogels [1]. Alginate-based hydrogels have been widely used in tissue engineering or in the development of matrices for cell encapsulation as they exhibit characteristic that resemble the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) of human tissues. An important limitation of alginate hydrogels is their low degradability, which is usually overcome through oxidation to alginate-di-aldehyde (ADA) [2]. Alginate-based hydrogels can be used for the controlled release of phytotherapeutics. The aim of this Master thesis is the development and characterization of an alginate-based hydrogels with and without inorganic fillers as drug delivery materiasl and for soft tissue engineering.

[1] K. Y. Lee and D. J. Mooney, Alginate: Properties and biomedical applications, Prog. Polym. Sci., vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 106–126, 2012.

[2] S. Reakasame and A. R. Boccaccini, Oxidized Alginate-Based Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications: A Review, Biomacromolecules 19 (1), 3-21, 2018.