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Review
. 2020 Dec 29;11(1):29.
doi: 10.3390/biom11010029.

Glycosaminoglycans in Tissue Engineering: A Review

Harkanwalpreet Sodhi  1 , Alyssa Panitch  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Glycosaminoglycans in Tissue Engineering: A Review

Harkanwalpreet Sodhi et al. Biomolecules. .

Abstract

Glycosaminoglycans are native components of the extracellular matrix that drive cell behavior and control the microenvironment surrounding cells, making them promising therapeutic targets for a myriad of diseases. Recent studies have shown that recapitulation of cell interactions with the extracellular matrix are key in tissue engineering, where the aim is to mimic and regenerate endogenous tissues. Because of this, incorporation of glycosaminoglycans to drive stem cell fate and promote cell proliferation in engineered tissues has gained increasing attention. This review summarizes the role glycosaminoglycans can play in tissue engineering and the recent advances in their use in these constructs. We also evaluate the general trend of research in this niche and provide insight into its future directions.

Keywords: chondroitin sulfate; dermatan sulfate; extracellular matrix; glycosaminoglycans; heparan sulfate; hyaluronic acid; keratan sulfate; tissue engineering.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Repeating disaccharide unit of each glycosaminoglycan. “R” indicates a potential sulfation point.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Each GAG and their aforementioned tissue engineering applications. This figure was made using BioRender.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The four generalized steps of incorporating glycosaminoglycans into tissue engineering and the relative progress of each in this process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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