| abstract |
Described herein are composites useful in tissue and organ engineering. In one aspect, the composite comprises the reaction product between a macromolecule comprising at least one thiol group and a gold nanoparticle. The thiolated macromolecule crosslinks with the gold nanoparticle to produce a composite that is useful in anchoring cells. The composites can be used to form multi-layer 3-D structures, where the cells in each layer can aggregate and fuse with one another to form tissues and organs. |