Qin Zezhao, Yu Xiaofeng, Wu Haiyang, Yang Lei, Lv Hongying, Yang Xiaoniu
State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 5625 Renmin Street, Changchun 130022, P. R. China.
College of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Jinzhai Road No 96, Hefei 230026, P. R. China.
ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2020 Jun 8;6(6):3529-3538. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c00416. Epub 2020 May 6.
Injectable hydrogels have become increasingly important in the fields of tissue engineering and drug delivery. However, their biological applications are greatly limited by the weak mechanics and poor stability under a physiological environment. Herein, we developed a stable, strong, and injectable hydrogel by linking strong micelle cross-linking with tetra-armed PEG. This dual cross-linking strategy has not only made hydrogels nonswelling but also maintained the relative integrity of the gel network during the degradation process, both of which work together to ensure the mechanical strength and stability of our hydrogel under a physiological environment. A compressive stress of 40 MPa was achieved at 95% strain, and the mechanical properties could remain stable even after immersion into a physiological environment for two months. Besides, it also showed outstanding antifatigue properties, good tissue adhesion, and good cytocompatibility. On the basis of these characteristics, these dual cross-linking injectable hydrogels would find appealing application in biomedicine especially for the repair of load-bearing soft tissues.
可注射水凝胶在组织工程和药物递送领域变得越来越重要。然而，它们的生物学应用受到生理环境下力学性能薄弱和稳定性差的极大限制。在此，我们通过将强胶束交联与四臂聚乙二醇连接，开发了一种稳定、坚固且可注射的水凝胶。这种双重交联策略不仅使水凝胶不溶胀，而且在降解过程中保持了凝胶网络的相对完整性，这两者共同作用以确保我们的水凝胶在生理环境下的机械强度和稳定性。在95%应变下实现了40兆帕的压缩应力，即使在生理环境中浸泡两个月后，机械性能仍能保持稳定。此外，它还表现出出色的抗疲劳性能、良好的组织粘附性和良好的细胞相容性。基于这些特性，这些双重交联可注射水凝胶在生物医学中尤其是在承重软组织修复方面将有吸引人的应用。
