Ординатура / Хирургия / Библиотека им академика М.И. Перельмана / Книга_5383_Библиотеки_им_академика_М_И_Перельмана

cellulose, employed for topical woundhealing applications[87], and gellan gum, employed in the development of oral, ophthalmic, and spray nasal formulations for biomedical, cosmetic, and nutraceutical applications[88, 89]. All the cited bacterial polysaccharides are also under investigation for other biomedical applications, including wound healing and regenerative medicine[88].

Collagen, laminin, and fibronectin are the most known examples of ECM proteins in which glycosylation varies between physiological and pathological conditions and in tissue morphogenesis[23, 109, 110]. ECM–cell crosstalk events are mediated by carbohydrate–carbohydrate and, more significantly, by carbohydrate–protein (lectins) interactions[3, 111–113]. The crosstalk will result in different structural organizations of the ECM responsible for morphogenesis. Therefore, once the cor­relation between cell fate and ECM morphological and biomolecular properties (including glycosylation) is clarified, it will be possible to design artificial ECM able to regenerate the required tissue. Even if glycoproteomic and lectin studies are in rapid development, we still need a clear and reliable picture of the main glycosigna­ture changes related to morphogenesis and the occurrence of pathologies.

The role of carbohydrates in medical device and tissue engineering applications is undoubtedly impressive and merits being studied and implemented. Mimicking nature, scientists have exploited polysaccharides as scaffolds to generate artificial tissues, often in combination with proteins, and shorter glycans as signaling mole­cules to induce cell fate. Where the structural role ends and the biological signal begins is not entirely clear. It will have to be thoroughly investigated. The possibility to synthetically generate human tissues and even organs is a big challenge, requir­ing multiple expertise to control structural, mechanical, and biomolecular proper­ties, in all of which even carbohydrates play their role. Polysaccharides and glycosylated proteins, derived from human and nonhuman sources, are already widely used as scaffolds to generate medical devices, but there is still room for sig­nificant improvements. The clinical translation of glycoengineered materials able to restore damaged tissues by exploiting the glycosignature as modulators of tissue morphogenesis is still in its infancy. The advancement in manufacturing technolo­gies, like 3D printing and 3D bioprinting, will have a significant impact on the gen­eration of polysaccharidebased materials with advanced micrometric physical and morphological properties. The high structural variability of glycans in ECM and cell surfaces and the large number of physiological and pathological events that they can specifically induce require the collection of a lot of information to have a com­plete picture of their role. The research, therefore, requires robotic platforms for the synthesis and artificial intelligence approaches to elaborate on the multitude of data and develop predictive programs. Once the picture is sufficiently clear, the gap between glycoscience and clinical translation will be covered, revealing the complex mosaic in which glycans are related to age, health, or pathological states. A big chal­lenge for glycoscientists.