Hyaluronic Acid of Type 1 Collagen Hydrogel?
An emerging trend in cell biology is the importance of the cell microenvironment. For example, hematopoietic stem cells require the bone marrow niche or microenvironment to function properly1. One strategy to determine which hydrogel would work best for the culture of a specific cell type is to choose one made of components of the tissue from where the cell came. The table below provides the distribution of two naturally occurring biomaterials (hyaluronic acid and type I collagen) in higher organisms:
|
Tissue
|
Hyaluronic Acid2
|
Type 1 Collagen3
|
| Umbilical Cord |
Very High
|
|
| Skin |
X
|
X
|
| Vitreous Body |
X
|
|
| Lung |
X
|
X
|
| Kidney |
X
|
X
|
| Brain |
X
|
|
| Muscle |
Low
|
X
|
| Liver |
None
|
|
| Cartilage |
Very Low4
|
X
|
| Undifferentiated Cells |
X5
|
|
| Embryonic Cell Milieu |
X5,6
|
|
| Synovial Fluid |
Very High
|
|
| Synovium |
X
|
|
| Bone |
X
|
|
| Tendons |
X
|
|
| Intervertebral Disc |
X
|
|
| Annulus Fibrosus |
X
|
|
| Intestine |
X
|
|
| Placenta |
X
|
|
| Nerve |
X
|
|
| Lymph Nodes |
X
|
|
| Dentin |
X
|
|
| Peridontal Ligament |
X
|
|
| Pipilla and Pulp |
X
|
|
| Gingiva |
X
|
References
- Scadden DT, The stem-cell niche as an entity of action. Nature (2006) 441:1075-9.
- Fraser JRE et al, Hyaluronan: its nature, distribution, functions, and turnover. J. Internal Medicine (1997) 242:27-33.
- Talwar GP and Srivastava LM, Textbook of Biochemistry and Human Biology, 3rd ed (2003) Prentice-Hall, New Dehli
- Holmes MWA et al, hyaluronic acid in human articular cartilage Biochem. J (1988) 250:435-441.
- Gerecht S et al, Hyaluronic acid hydrogel for controlled self-renewal and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells Proc. Natl Acad Sci (2007) 104: 11298-11303.
- Toole BP, Hyaluronan is not just a goo! J. Clin. Invest (2000) 106:335-336.
