Practical Guide to the Design of Granular Hydrogels for Customizing Complex Cellular Microenvironments
Feng S., Chen K., Wang S.
Narrative Review, published in Adv Healthc Mater (2025) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.
Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.
- Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
- Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
- Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
- Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
- Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.
- Study type
- Narrative Review
- Journal
- Adv Healthc Mater (2025)
- Reported sample size
- —
- Source database
- Europe PMC
- PMID
- 40734307
- PMCID
- PMC12538541
- DOI
- 10.1002/adhm.202501947
- Citations
- 11
Abstract (original English)
Granular hydrogels are a novel class of microporous platforms for cell culture and delivery, formed as macroscopic aggregates through the bottom-up assembly of microgels. Given their flexibility and diversity, granular scaffolds have attracted extensive attention as emerging materials replicating the complex, heterogeneous environments found in natural tissues. This review outlines the design principles of granular hydrogels, highlighting critical intra-microgel and inter-microgel factors that determine the final physicochemical properties of the entire system for creating a biomimetic cellular microenvironment. Intra-microgel factors represent the intrinsic properties of microgels, while inter-microgel factors primarily focus on the interactions between microgels. A comprehensive analysis is conducted on each intra- and inter-microgel factor, elaborating on their definitions, classifications, and regulation strategies. Subsequently, the final properties of granular hydrogels, such as porosity, mechanical characteristics, degradability, heterogeneity, drug loading, and cellular incorporation strategy, are discussed in detail with an emphasis on their effects on cellular behavior. Finally, the current technical challenges in granular hydrogel design are discussed along with potential opportunities for further development.
What this study does not prove
- • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
- • This is a narrative review: it collects no new patient data and does not systematically appraise evidence quality.
Evidence level
Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.
How we grade evidenceBrowse all related research
Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.