Kappa carrageenan (κ-CA) is a natural-origin polymer that closely mimics the glycosaminoglycan structure, one of the most important constituents of native tissues extracellular matrix. Now, a team have reported functionalization of κ-CA by introducing photocrosslinkable moieties enables the formation of dual crosslinked hydrogels.

The combination of chemical and physical crosslinking procedures enables the formation of hydrogels with highly versatile physical and chemical properties, while maintaining the viability of encapsulated cells. Moreover, by micromolding approaches, spatially controlled geometries and cell distribution patterns could be obtained, thus enabling the development of cell-material platforms that can be applied and tailored to a broad range of tissue engineering strategies.