Wang Gang, Cao Xiaodong, Dong Hua, Zeng Lei, Yu Chenxi, Chen Xiaofeng
Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.
National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Polymers (Basel). 2018 Aug 27;10(9):949. doi: 10.3390/polym10090949.
A hyaluronic acid (HA) based injectable hydrogel with gradually increasing mechanical properties was synthesized via photo-crosslinking reaction and thermal-induced Diels-Alder (DA) reaction. The injectable hydrogel can quickly gelate within 30 s by photo-crosslinking of HA-furan under the catalysis of lithium phenyl-2,4,6-trimethylbenzoylphosphinate (LAP). This injectable property is beneficial to keep the encapsulated cell activity and convenient for clinical operation. And the mechanical properties can be control from 4.86 to 10.66 kPa by exposure time. Then, the thermal-induced DA click chemistry further occurs between furan groups and maleimide groups which gradually promoted the crosslinking density of the injectable hydrogel. The mechanical properties of the injectable hydrogel can be promoted to 21 kPa. ATDC-5 cells were successfully encapsulated in the injectable hydrogel and showed good activity. All the results suggested that the injectable hydrogel with gradually increasing mechanical properties formed by photo-crosslinking reaction and thermal-induced DA reaction has a good prospect of application in cartilage tissue engineering.
通过光交联反应和热引发的狄尔斯-阿尔德（DA）反应合成了一种具有逐渐增强力学性能的基于透明质酸（HA）的可注射水凝胶。在苯基-2,4,6-三甲基苯甲酰基膦酸锂（LAP）催化下，HA-呋喃通过光交联可在30秒内快速凝胶化。这种可注射性能有利于保持包封细胞的活性且便于临床操作。通过曝光时间，力学性能可在4.86至10.66kPa之间控制。然后，呋喃基团与马来酰亚胺基团之间进一步发生热引发的DA点击化学，逐渐提高了可注射水凝胶的交联密度。可注射水凝胶的力学性能可提升至21kPa。ATDC-5细胞成功包封在可注射水凝胶中并表现出良好活性。所有结果表明，通过光交联反应和热引发的DA反应形成的具有逐渐增强力学性能的可注射水凝胶在软骨组织工程中有良好的应用前景。
