Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Group, BioMediTech, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, 33720 Tampere, Finland.
Brinter Limited, 20520 Turku, Finland.
Biomacromolecules. 2021 Feb 8;22(2):481-493. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c01322. Epub 2020 Dec 22.
For modern tissue engineering, we need not only develop new hydrogels but also suitable processing methods for them. Polypeptides and polysaccharides are potential candidates because they can be methacrylated, processed before photocross-linking, and yielded into hydrogels with given shape and form. In this study, we successfully methacrylated collagen, gelatin, hyaluronan, and alginate to 30 and 60% degree of modification. We studied methacrylated compositions (i.e., precursors) to investigate their processability. The precursors of collagen and gelatin with 60% methacrylation exhibited suitable yield stress, shear-thinning properties, and fiber-forming capability for injecting and 3D bioprinting. On the contrary, the 30% methacrylated precursors had properties suitable for casting purposes. Our study also showed that the mechanical properties of hydrogels corresponded to the used photocross-linking conditions and the degree of modification. These results underline the importance of tunability of the precursors and resulting hydrogels according to the specific fabrication method and tissue engineering application.
对于现代组织工程学而言,我们不仅需要开发新的水凝胶,还需要适合它们的加工方法。多肽和多糖是潜在的候选材料,因为它们可以进行甲基丙烯酰化,在光交联前进行处理,并生成具有给定形状和形式的水凝胶。在本研究中,我们成功地将胶原、明胶、透明质酸和藻酸盐甲基丙烯酰化为 30%和 60%的修饰度。我们研究了甲基丙烯酰化的成分(即前体),以研究其可加工性。胶原和明胶的 60%甲基丙烯酰化前体表现出合适的屈服应力、剪切变稀特性和纤维形成能力,可用于注射和 3D 生物打印。相比之下,30%甲基丙烯酰化的前体具有适合浇铸的特性。我们的研究还表明,水凝胶的机械性能与所使用的光交联条件和修饰度相对应。这些结果强调了根据特定的制造方法和组织工程应用来调整前体和所得水凝胶的可调节性的重要性。