Implantation of microencapsulated cells has been proposed as a therapy for a wide variety of diseases. An absolute requirement is that the applied microcapsules have an optimal biocompatibility. The alginate-poly-L-lysine system is the most commonly applied system but is still suffering from tissue responses provoked by the capsule materials. In the present study, we investigate the biocompatib...

18 Alginate lyases are enzymes that degrade alginate through β-elimination of the glycosidic bond 19 into smaller oligomers. We investigated the alginate lyases from Vibrio splendidus 12B01, a 20 marine bacterioplankton species that can grow on alginate as its sole carbon source. We 21 identified, purified, and characterized four polysaccharide lyase family 7 alginates lyases – 22 AlyA, AlyB, A...

Alginates are being increasingly used for cell encapsulation and tissue engineering applications; however, these materials cannot specifically interact with mammalian cells. We have covalently modified alginates of varying monomeric ratio with RGD-containing cell adhesion ligands using carbodiimide chemistry to initiate cell adhesion to these polymers. We hypothesized that we could control the ...

INTRODUCTION Use of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in children has increased enormously. However, effectiveness and safety of PPIs for pediatric GERD are under debate. OBJECTIVES We performed a systematic review to determine effectiveness and safety of PPIs in children with GERD. METHODS We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane ...

Alginate is a hydrogel commonly used for cell culture by ionically crosslinking in the presence of divalent Ca(2+) ions. However these alginate gels are mechanically unstable, not permitting their use as scaffolds to engineer robust biological bone, breast, cardiac or tumor tissues. This issue can be addressed via encapsulation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) serving as a reinforcing p...

Recent advances in three-dimensional (3-D) printing offer an excellent opportunity to address critical challenges faced by current tissue engineering approaches. Alginate hydrogels have been used extensively as bioinks for 3-D bioprinting. However, most previous research has focused on native alginates with limited degradation. The application of oxidized alginates with controlled degradation i...

5 LIST OF ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS 6

Seaweed is a famous delicacy in some parts of the Asia and also a well-known source of important food hydrocolloids, such as agar, alginates, and carrageenan. In addition to the food value of seaweed, evier Inc. reserved. radeniya,