Hyaluronan:  Preparation, Structure, Properties, and Applications

Abstract

under Prof. S. Claesson. Holding 24 industrial patents and author of more than 120 publications, he has lectured at several European universities. His current interest is in the photochemistry and physical chemistry of polymers. He is a member of the Czech Chemical Society. Stefaan De Smedt was born in Geraardsbergen, Belgium, in 1967. He studied pharmacy at the University of Ghent, Belgium, and received his M.S. degree in pharmaceutical sciences in 1990. As a scholar of the Belgian Institute for the Encouragement of Scientific Research in Industry and Agriculture, he enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Ghent, under the direction of Prof. J. Demeester. He studied rheology at the Catholic University of Leuven. He received the Scott Blair Biorheology Award in 1993−1995 for his work on the structural characterization of hyaluronan solutions. To study diffusion phenomena in polymer solutions, he collaborated with Prof. Y. Engelborghs at the Laboratory of Biomolecular Dynamics of the Catholic University of Leuven. In 1995, he joined the pharmaceutical development group of Janssen Research Foundation. Since 1997 he has been a postdoctoral fellow of F.W.O.-Vlaanderen at the Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy of the University of Ghent. He is a member of the Controlled Release Society, the European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Belgian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences, the European Society of Rheology, the Belgian Biophysical Society, and the Polymer Networks Group. He is a consultant to the Journal of Controlled Release and to Pharmaceutical Research. His current research interests include the mobility and interactions of macromolecular drugs in pharmaceutical polymer matrixes and biological polymer systems.

Biomimetic Regeneration of Elastin Matrices Using Hyaluronan and Copper Ion Cues

“…36,37 Because the physico-chemical and biological properties of HA are often dependent on its size, 38 we have sought to investigate these differences in the context of stimulating elastin matrix synthesis. 16,17 In other studies, copper ions (Cu 2þ ) have been shown to minimize vascular defects, 39 promote angiogenesis, 40 and enhance LOX enzyme activity.…”

Engineered sodium hyaluronate respirable dry powders for pulmonary drug delivery

“…It is a linear polysaccharide composed of a repeating disaccharide unit of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucuronic acid bound by β 1,4 glycosidic bond. The disaccharides are linked by β 1,3 bonds to form the hyaluronic acid chains (Lapcík L Jr and et al, 1998). In vivo, hyaluronate exists as a polyanion rather than its protonated form, hyaluronic acid, although the terms are often used synonymously in the literature (Liao et al, 2008).…”

Schwann-cell cylinders grown inside hyaluronic-acid tubular scaffolds with gradient porosity

“…In addition, its degradation rate and the diffusion of active molecules through it can be modulated by selecting a specific range of molecular weights, or by using different crosslinking agents and fabrication procedures. Furthermore, HA induces a low inflammatory response and may contribute to neovascularization through its lowmolecular weight oligomers [32,38,39]; in addition, it can be functionalized variously to improve cell adhesion, proliferation, migration and differentiation [40,41]. For all these reasons, HA seems a promising material for nerve and brain tissue repair [32,[39][40][41][42].…”