Molecular Design of Biodegradable Dextran Hydrogels for the Controlled Release of Proteins

A biodegradable and biocompatible dextran hydrogel system has been developed of which the degradation time can be tailored between 2 days and 3 months. This chapter shows that hydrogels based on crosslinked dextrans have unique properties as protein releasing matrices. Both the release pattern (first-order, zero-order or biphasic) as well as the duration of the release can be controlled by an appropriate selection of the characteristics and the geometry of the hydrogel.