Impairment of the clinical tissue-implantation is due to the lack of a suitable organ donor and immunogenic rejection, which leads to the cause for the enormous loss of human life. The introduction of artificial regeneration of tissues by Langer and Vacanti in 1993, has revolutionized in the field of surgical organ transplantation, to alleviate the problem of tissue injury-related death. There is no doubt that the term “regenerative medicine” to open a new space of tissue reconstruction, but the complications that arise due to the proper machinery of the cell, supporting biomaterials and growth factors has yet to be resolved to expand its application in a versatile manner. The chapter would provide a significant overview of the artificial tissue regeneration while a triangular relationship between cells, matrixes, and growth factors should be established mentioning the necessity of biomedical tools as an alternative to organ transplantation.
Part of the book: Biomechanics and Functional Tissue Engineering
Targeted therapeutics are considered next generation cancer therapy because they overcome many limitations of traditional chemotherapy. Cancerous cells may be targeted by various hyaluronic acid modified nanovehicles that kill these cells. Particularly, hyaluronic acid and its derivatives bind with high affinity to cell surface protein, CD44 enriched tumor cells. Moreover, these molecules have the added advantage of being biocompatible and biodegradable, and may be conjugated with a variety of drugs and drug carriers for developing various formulations as anti-cancer therapies such as nanogels, self-assembled and metallic nanoparticulates. In this chapter, we have covered various aspects of hyaluronic acid-modified delivery systems including strategies for synthesis, characterization, and biocompatibility. Next, the use of hyaluronic acid-modified systems as anti-cancer therapies is discussed. Finally, the delivery of small molecules, and other pharmaceutical agents are also elaborated in this chapter.
Part of the book: Extracellular Matrix