Future - Chitosan Based Hydrogels: Functions and Applications - page 464

10
Future
Dunwan Zhu, Xigang Leng, and Kangde Yao
CoNTENTS
10.1 Complexity of a Live System ............................................................................................ 469
10.1.1 Architectures of a Live System ............................................................................ 469
10.1.2 Cells and Their ECMs ........................................................................................... 470
10.1.3 Cell Events............................................................................................................... 471
10.1.4 Interaction of Cell and Chitosan-Based Biomaterials....................................... 471
10.1.5 Interaction of Stem Cell and Chitosan-Based Biomaterials ............................. 472
10.2 Design of Smart Chitosan-Based Biomaterials.............................................................. 472
10.2.1 Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering ......................................................................... 472
10.2.2 Extracellular Carriers ............................................................................................ 473
10.2.3 Intelligent Carriers................................................................................................. 473
10.2.4 Extension of Application Potential ...................................................................... 474
10.3 Challenges due to Interactions of Chitosan-Based Gels .............................................. 474
10.4 Challenge and Adaptability for Chitosan-Based Gels ................................................. 475
10.4.1 Multiple Layers for Soft-Tissue Regeneration .................................................... 475
10.4.2 Vascularization and Structure for Hard Tissue Regeneration ........................ 475
10.4.3 Functionalization for Organ Regeneration ........................................................ 476
10.5 Disease Information for Drug Delivery Systems .......................................................... 476
References..................................................................................................................................... 477
10.1 Complexity of a Live System
10.1.1 Architectures of a live System
Cells are the basic structural and functional units of organisms. The human body is com-
posed of numerous cells. Humans may have hundreds of types of cells, the amount of
which may be up to several trillions. These cells are well orderly assembled and perform
various functions. A group of similar cells formed a tissue, organs with special functions
were formed by tissues, systems were constructed with related organs, and a human being
was constructed with several systems.
The protoplasm is the living content of a cell that is surrounded by a plasma membrane
(cell membrane), which is composed of a mixture of small molecules such as ions, amino
acids, monosaccharides, and water, and macromolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins,
lipids, and polysaccharides. Due to their high molecular weight and complicated struc-
ture, these macromolecules are also referred to as biomacromolecules, which play a very
important role in major life events of the organism. From the viewpoint of materials
science, biomacromolecules can be regarded as the basic units of an assembled organism,
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