Injuries to the peripheral nervous system can cause substantial motor and sensory deficits. In the presented study, self-assembling peptide-based hydrogels are injected into a chitosan nanofiber scaffold and used as an artificial nerve graft.

Natural polysaccharides such as chitin and chitosan are excellent sources for new materials with exceptional properties. Here we present innovative applications of the biopolymer derived from crustaceans or mushrooms in bulletproof coatings and smart windows.

Worldwide, about 2.5 million people live with the consequences of a traumatic spinal cord injury. At the injured site formation of glia scar tissue prevents the regeneration of nerve cells. To date, complete functional recovery of the spinal cord is impossible, also because the cascade of events that takes place at the injured site is not fully understood yet.

In October 2016, 375 publications about chitosan were released by researchers from China (99 article), United States (31) und India (30) among others. Main issue was chitosan combined with nanoparticels, pharmaceutical preparations and tissue.

There are various applications of chitosan hydrogels. Chitosan-based materials can be used as scaffold, wound dressing or bone implant. Here, we present two studies which investigated chitosan hydrogels regarding the manipulation of structure properties as well as utilization in an animal model.