Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
Macromol Biosci. 2021 Feb;21(2):e2000337. doi: 10.1002/mabi.202000337. Epub 2020 Nov 16.
Hydrogels have gained interest for use in tissue regeneration and wound healing because of their absorbing and swelling properties as well as their ability to mimic the natural extracellular matrix. Their use in wound healing specifically may be in the form of a patch or wound dressing or they may be administered within the wound bed as a filler, gel in situ, to promote healing. Thiolated hyaluronic acid-polyethylene diacrylate (tHA-PEGDA) hydrogels are ideal for this purpose due to their short gelation times at physiological temperature and pH. But these hydrogels alone are not enough and require added components to gain bioactivity. In this work, RGD adhesion peptides and an antivascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGF-R2) DNA aptamer are incorporated into a tHA-PEGDA hydrogel to make a bifunctional hyaluronic acid hydrogel. RGD peptides promote attachment and growth of cells while the anti-VEGF-R2 DNA aptamer seems to improve cell viability, induce cell migration, and spur the onset of angiogenesis by tube formation by endothelial cells. This bifunctional hydrogel supports cell culture and has improved biological properties. The data suggest that these hydrogels can be used for advanced tissue regeneration applications such as in wound healing.
水凝胶因其吸水和溶胀特性以及模拟天然细胞外基质的能力而在组织再生和伤口愈合中受到关注。它们在伤口愈合中的具体应用形式可能是贴片或伤口敷料，或者可以作为填充物、原位凝胶施用于伤口床内，以促进愈合。由于巯基化透明质酸-聚（乙二醇）二丙烯酸酯（tHA-PEGDA）水凝胶在生理温度和 pH 值下具有较短的凝胶化时间，因此非常适合这种用途。但这些水凝胶本身还不够，需要添加其他成分来获得生物活性。在这项工作中，将 RGD 粘附肽和抗血管内皮生长因子受体-2（VEGF-R2）DNA 适体掺入 tHA-PEGDA 水凝胶中，制成双功能透明质酸水凝胶。RGD 肽促进细胞附着和生长，而抗 VEGF-R2 DNA 适体似乎通过促进内皮细胞的管腔形成来提高细胞活力、诱导细胞迁移和刺激血管生成。这种双功能水凝胶支持细胞培养并具有改善的生物学特性。数据表明，这些水凝胶可用于先进的组织再生应用，例如伤口愈合。
