Extracellular matrices which can be used as scaffold for living cells

Abstract

The present invention discloses an extracellular matrix comprising a modified polysaccharide consisting of repeating disaccharide units whereby in at least 11% of the disaccharide units one primary alcohol group is oxidized into a carboxylic acid.

1 - 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A material comprising:
 a modified agarose having an at least partial β-sheet structure and comprising repeat disaccharide units, wherein at least 11% of the repeat disaccharide units are carboxylic acids, and wherein the modified agarose has a shear modulus G′ in the range of from 10 Pa to 10 7  Pa.   
     
     
         16 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein 20-90% of the repeat disaccharide units are carboxylic acids. 
     
     
         17 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein 50-95% of the repeat disaccharide units are carboxylic acids. 
     
     
         18 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein the modified agarose further comprises an unmodified polysaccharide. 
     
     
         19 . The material of  claim 18 , wherein the unmodified polysaccharide is selected from the group consisting of agarose, a member of the carrageenan family, hyaluronic acid, heparin sulfate, dermatan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, alginate, chitosan and pullulan. 
     
     
         20 . The material of  claim 18 , wherein the unmodified polysaccharide comprises agarose. 
     
     
         21 . The material of  claim 18 , wherein the modified agarose is obtained from agarose exhibiting an alpha-helix structure. 
     
     
         22 . The material of  claim 18 , further comprising a peptide sequence covalently coupled to the carboxylic acids. 
     
     
         23 . The material of  claim 18 , further comprising a nucleic acid sequence covalently coupled to the carboxylic acids. 
     
     
         24 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein the material has a shear modulus G′ in the range of from 1 Pa to 100 kPa. 
     
     
         25 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein the material has a shear modulus G′ in the range of from 1 Pa to 50 kPa. 
     
     
         26 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein the material has a shear modulus G′ in the range of from 10 Pa to 10 kPa. 
     
     
         27 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein the material is an implant. 
     
     
         28 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein the material is a regenerative implant. 
     
     
         29 . The material of  claim 30 , wherein the regenerative implant is an artificial skin. 
     
     
         30 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein the material is injectable into a subject. 
     
     
         31 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein the material further comprises living cells. 
     
     
         32 . The material of  claim 15 , wherein the material is implanted as skin in a subject.