Molecular and Supramolecular Structure of Hyaluronic Acid

The supramolecular structures of the polymeric compounds have various forms that determine the structural and functional properties of biopolymers. The presence of polar and non‐polar fragments in the macromolecule's structure determines hyaluronan's ability to interact with different chemical compounds and plays a major role in the various conformational transformations. Hyaluronan may exist on the cell surface in an incredibly large number of conformational states (elongated chains, ‘relaxed’ helixes, condensed rod‐shaped structures, helixes, the structures similar to the pearl necklace and ‘clips’). The Hyaluronic Acid (HA) chains, when interacting with each other, form fibrils, webs and other structures. Rheology of liquid‐crystal polymers is very different from the rheology of usual liquid crystals. However, rheological behaviour of liquid‐crystal polymers is different from that of usual polymer liquids too. The well‐known rheological property of liquid crystals is that the viscosity decreases sharply when moving from isotropic phase to nematic one.