Polysaccharide-based hydrogels: properties, advantages, challenges, and optimization methods for applications in regenerative medicine

In the past few years, research has focused on design and development of natural polymers-based hydrogels owing to their inherent features as well as numerous application ranges. In this context, polysaccharide-based hydrogels have attracted significant interest mainly due to their superior physicochemical and biological characteristics. However, these types of biomaterials 'suffer' from some problems. This review aims to give an update of diverse optimization strategies used to improve the physicochemical and biological properties of hydrogels based on natural polysaccharides as biomaterials for regenerative medicine applications.