Cell populated hydrogels based on collagen and chitosan for soft tissue regeneration

A deficit of organs and tissue donors, as well as the loss of function after tissue injury motivate the need of cellular therapies that will allow fast and appropriate reconstruction of the structures and also the functions. Cell containing hydrogels are among the newest approaches of the tissue engineering that allow initiation of tissue regeneration in a physiological manner. In this paper biocompatible collagen-chitosan cell seeded hydrogels were obtained and tested for degree of contraction, proliferation capacity and long-term cell storage capacity. Hydrogels contraction decrease at higher ratio of functionalized chitosan as crosslincking agent. The in situ prepared hydrogels preserved cell proliferation capacity over 14 days of cell culture.