Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh 517619, India.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh 517619, India.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Sep;276(Pt 1):133866. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.133866. Epub 2024 Jul 14.
Hydrogels are becoming increasingly significant in tissue engineering because of their numerous benefits, including biocompatibility, biodegradability, and their ability to provide a supportive structure for cell proliferation. This study presents the synthesis and characterization of a new multimaterial hydrogel with 3D-printing capabilities composed of copper nanoparticle-reinforced gelatin, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and guar gum-based biomaterials intended for tissue engineering applications. Combining CuNPs aims to enhance the hydrogel's antibacterial properties, mechanical strength, and bioactivity, which are essential for successful tissue regeneration. Hydrogels are chemically cross-linked with glyoxal and analyzed through different assessments to examine the compressive behavior, surface morphology, sorbing capacity, biocompatibility, thermal stability, and degradation properties. The results demonstrated that including CuNPs significantly improved the hydrogel's compressive modulus (4.18 MPa) for the hydrogel with the CuNPs and provided better antibacterial activity against common pathogens with controlled degradation. All the hydrogels exhibited a lower coefficient of friction, which was below 0.1. In vitro cell culture studies using chondrocytes indicated that the CuNPs-loaded hydrogel supported cell proliferation and growth of chondrogenic genes such as collagen type II (COL2) and aggrecan (ACAN). The biocompatibility and enhanced mechanical properties of the multimaterial hydrogel make it a promising candidate for developing customized, patient-specific tissue engineering scaffolds.
水凝胶由于其众多优点，包括生物相容性、生物可降解性以及为细胞增殖提供支持结构的能力，在组织工程中变得越来越重要。本研究提出了一种由铜纳米粒子增强明胶、聚乙烯醇（PVA）和瓜尔胶基生物材料组成的具有 3D 打印能力的新型多材料水凝胶的合成与表征，旨在用于组织工程应用。结合 CuNPs 旨在提高水凝胶的抗菌性能、机械强度和生物活性，这对于成功的组织再生至关重要。水凝胶通过乙二醛进行化学交联，并通过不同评估进行分析，以检查压缩行为、表面形态、吸附能力、生物相容性、热稳定性和降解特性。结果表明，加入 CuNPs 可显著提高水凝胶的压缩模量（4.18 MPa），并对常见病原体具有更好的抗菌活性，同时可控制降解。所有水凝胶的摩擦系数均较低，低于 0.1。使用软骨细胞进行的体外细胞培养研究表明，载 CuNPs 的水凝胶支持细胞增殖和软骨基因（如 COL2 和 ACAN）的生长。多材料水凝胶的生物相容性和增强的机械性能使其成为开发定制、患者特异性组织工程支架的有前途的候选物。
