Electro‐Stimulation, a Promising Therapeutic Treatment Modality for Tissue Repair: Emerging Roles of Sulfated Glycosaminoglycans as Electro‐Regulatory Mediators of Intrinsic Repair Processes. Issue 11 (3rd September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hayes, Anthony J.; Melrose, James
• Is Part Of: Advanced therapeutics. Volume 3:Issue 11(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-09-03
• Subjects: cell signaling -- chondroitin sulfate -- electro‐stimulation -- extracellular matrix remodeling and repair -- glycosaminoglycans -- heparan sulfate -- keratan sulfate -- morphogens -- tissue morphogenesis; Therapeutics -- Periodicals; Pharmaceutical technology -- Periodicals; Pharmacogenetics -- Periodicals; 615.5
• DOI: 10.1002/adtp.202000151
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2366-3987

Abstract

Abstract: Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are a family of diverse biomolecules that decorate proteoglycans in the glycocalyx and extracellular matrix of all cells. They exist as linear polysaccharide chains consisting of repeating disaccharide units that can be variably sulfated and carboxylated along their GAG chain length. These ionizable carboxyl and sulfate groups on GAGs create charged interactive motifs that convey cell regulatory properties important in tissue homeostasis and the maintenance of optimal tissue function. GAGs participate in a number of essential physiological processes including coagulation‐fibrinolysis, matrix assembly and stabilization, immune regulation, and the complement system. The high fixed charge density and the counter‐ions of GAGs is central to their role in the hydration of various connective tissues within the body. Charge transfer properties of GAGs make them amenable to electro‐stimulation and offers a potential mechanism for promoting or enhancing cellular tissue repair processes. This review is undertaken to illustrate these properties and to gain a better understanding of how these processes might be manipulated through electro‐stimulation to help improve tissue repair and the recovery of normal function in traumatized tissues. Weight‐bearing and tension‐bearing, collagen‐rich, avascular tissues have intrinsically poor repair properties and represent difficult clinical challenges. Electro‐stimulation represents a novel approach with significant potential in the stimulation of repair in these most intransigent of tissues. Abstract : The term life‐force in the public idiom is an emotive Frankensteinian term that shows an appreciation of electrical phenomena that influence all cells in the human body to some degree. Electrostimulation represents a potential medium whereby cells in avascular aneural tissues with intrinsically poor self‐repair properties can potentially be stimulated to direct tissue repair and functional recovery.