Tronci Giuseppe, Grant Colin A, Thomson Neil H, Russell Stephen J, Wood David J
Nonwovens Research Group, School of Design, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Research Group, School of Dentistry, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9LU, UK
Advanced Materials Engineering RKT Centre, School of Engineering, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK.
J R Soc Interface. 2015 Jan 6;12(102):20141079. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2014.1079.
Biological hydrogels have been increasingly sought after as wound dressings or scaffolds for regenerative medicine, owing to their inherent biofunctionality in biological environments. Especially in moist wound healing, the ideal material should absorb large amounts of wound exudate while remaining mechanically competent in situ. Despite their large hydration, however, current biological hydrogels still leave much to be desired in terms of mechanical properties in physiological conditions. To address this challenge, a multi-scale approach is presented for the synthetic design of cyto-compatible collagen hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties (from the nano- up to the macro-scale), uniquely high swelling ratios and retained (more than 70%) triple helical features. Type I collagen was covalently functionalized with three different monomers, i.e. 4-vinylbenzyl chloride, glycidyl methacrylate and methacrylic anhydride, respectively. Backbone rigidity, hydrogen-bonding capability and degree of functionalization (F: 16 ± 12-91 ± 7 mol%) of introduced moieties governed the structure-property relationships in resulting collagen networks, so that the swelling ratio (SR: 707 ± 51-1996 ± 182 wt%), bulk compressive modulus (Ec: 30 ± 7-168 ± 40 kPa) and atomic force microscopy elastic modulus (EAFM: 16 ± 2-387 ± 66 kPa) were readily adjusted. Because of their remarkably high swelling and mechanical properties, these tunable collagen hydrogels may be further exploited for the design of advanced dressings for chronic wound care.
由于生物水凝胶在生物环境中具有固有的生物功能，因此作为伤口敷料或再生医学支架越来越受到关注。特别是在湿性伤口愈合中，理想的材料应能吸收大量伤口渗出液，同时在原位保持机械性能。然而，尽管目前的生物水凝胶具有较大的水合作用，但在生理条件下的机械性能仍有很大的改进空间。为应对这一挑战，本文提出了一种多尺度方法，用于合成设计具有可调机械性能（从纳米尺度到宏观尺度）、独特的高膨胀率和保留（超过70%）三螺旋特征的细胞相容性胶原蛋白水凝胶。I型胶原蛋白分别与三种不同的单体共价功能化，即4-乙烯基苄基氯、甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯和甲基丙烯酸酐。引入部分的主链刚性、氢键结合能力和功能化程度（F：16±12-91±7 mol%）决定了所得胶原蛋白网络中的结构-性能关系，从而使膨胀率（SR：707±51-1996±182 wt%）、体积压缩模量（Ec：30±7-168±40 kPa）和原子力显微镜弹性模量（EAFM：16±2-387±66 kPa）易于调节。由于其显著的高膨胀性和机械性能，这些可调胶原蛋白水凝胶可进一步用于设计用于慢性伤口护理的高级敷料。
