Use of collagen as a biomaterial: An update

Biomaterial science is an expanding area, which encompasses a wide range of medical knowledge involving arthroplasty, cochlear implants, heart valves designing, lenses, dental fixation and tissue engineering. Within this context, in vitro cell culture on polymer scaffolds is one of the adopted strategies for tissue creation. It consists of a specific cell line that is seeded onto a particular substrate. This scaffold should provide excellent biocompatibility, controllable biodegradability, appropriate mechanical strength, flexibility as well as the ability to absorb body fluids for delivery of nutrients. Collagen certainly fulfils these demands; therefore, it is often chosen as a biomaterial. Moreover, this protein is abundant in the animal kingdom and plays a vital role in biological functions, such as tissue formation, cell attachment and proliferation.