@inbook {18724,
	title = {Engineered hydrogel-based matrices for skin wound healing},
	booktitle = {Wound Healing Biomaterials},
	volume = {2},
	year = {2016},
	month = {2016-06-02 00:00:00},
	publisher = {Elsevier},
	organization = {Elsevier},
	edition = {1st},
	chapter = {11},
	abstract = {<p>Hydrogels, due to their hygroscopic nature, have been widely used as wound dressings. Because hydrogels resemble native extracellular matrix (ECM), newer developments aim at recreating three-dimensional ECM-like microenvironments. In general, current hydrogels show limited molecular diffusion and cell binding sites. Spongy-like hydrogels, based on gellan gum polysaccharide, produced by a sequential advanced processing methodology, reunite the benefits of hydrogels along with the capacity to control specific cell behavior. These structures can be stored as dried networks that after re-hydration with a solution containing cells and/or bioactive molecules form the spongy-like hydrogels. Spongy-like hydrogels show improved physical stability, flexibility, viscoelasticity and facilitated manipulation in the incorporation of bioactive molecules and/or cells, in comparison to traditional hydrogels. These characteristics make spongy-like hydrogels attractive for skin regeneration purposes. In this chapter we present the work leading to spongy-like hydrogels, highlighting the possibility of fine-tuning their properties, effects of incorporating hyaluronic acid, stem cells and adult skin cells to meet the demands of specific wound types.\&nbsp;</p>},
	keywords = {Hydrogels, skin tissue engineering, spongy-like hydrogels, Wound healing},
	doi = {10.1016/B978-1-78242-456-7.00011-8},
	author = {da Silva, L. P. and Cerqueira, M. T. and Correlo, V. M. and Reis, R. L. and Marques, A. P.},
	editor = {Agren, M. S.}
}
