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The use of natural polymers in tissue engineering: A focus on electrospun extracellular matrix analogues

Polymers, ISSN: 2073-4360, Vol: 2, Issue: 4, Page: 522-553
2010
  • 495
    Citations
  • 3
    Usage
  • 751
    Captures
  • 0
    Mentions
  • 11
    Social Media
Metric Options:   Counts1 Year3 Year

Metrics Details

  • Citations
    495
    • Citation Indexes
      494
    • Patent Family Citations
      1
      • Patent Families
        1
  • Usage
    3
  • Captures
    751
  • Social Media
    11
    • Shares, Likes & Comments
      11
      • Facebook
        11

Review Description

Natural polymers such as collagens, elastin, and fibrinogen make up much of the body's native extracellular matrix (ECM). This ECM provides structure and mechanical integrity to tissues, as well as communicating with the cellular components it supports to help facilitate and regulate daily cellular processes and wound healing. An ideal tissue engineering scaffold would not only replicate the structure of this ECM, but would also replicate the many functions that the ECM performs. In the past decade, the process of electrospinning has proven effective in creating non-woven ECM analogue scaffolds of micro to nanoscale diameter fibers from an array of synthetic and natural polymers. The ability of this fabrication technique to utilize the aforementioned natural polymers to create tissue engineering scaffolds has yielded promising results, both in vitro and in vivo, due in part to the enhanced bioactivity afforded by materials normally found within the human body. This review will present the process of electrospinning and describe the use of natural polymers in the creation of bioactive ECM analogues in tissue engineering. © 2010 by the authors.

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