The potential of hyaluronic acid in immunoprotection and immunomodulation: Chemistry, processing and function

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a glycosaminoglycan that is found in extracellular tissue in many parts of the body. It is a material of increasing importance to biomaterials science and is finding applications in diverse areas ranging from tissue culture scaffolds to cosmetic materials. This paper reviews the recent research on the role of HA as a immunoprotective and immunomodulatory biomaterial and the importance of HA in combating immune related diseases such as type 1 diabetes, cancer, and autoimmunity. The chemical modifications and processing methods employed to produce HA-modified materials are discussed, thus giving a better understanding of the structure-function-property relationships that influence immunomodulation, immunoprotection and stability. The article concludes with a discussion on the latest progress in HA materials science which is enabling the realisation of new therapies such as vaccine delivery, immunotherapy, cell encapsulation and transplantation.