The present paper intends to overview a wide range of natural–origin polymers with special focus on proteins and polysaccharides (the systems
more inspired on the extracellular matrix) that are being used in research, or might be potentially useful as carriers systems for active biomolecules
or as cell carriers with application in the tissue engineering field targeting several biological tissues. The combination of both applications into a
single material has proven to be very challenging though. The paper presents also some examples of commercially available natural–origin
polymers with applications in research or in clinical use in several applications. As it is recognized, this class of polymers is being widely used due
to their similarities with the extracellular matrix, high chemical versatility, typically good biological performance and inherent cellular interaction
and, also very significant, the cell or enzyme-controlled degradability. These biocharacteristics classify the natural–origin polymers as one of the
most attractive options to be used in the tissue engineering field and drug delivery applications.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.