1 research outputs found
Photoresponsive Polysaccharide-Based Hydrogels with Tunable Mechanical Properties for Cartilage Tissue Engineering
Photoresponsive hydrogels were obtained
by coordination of alginate–acrylamide hybrid gels (AlgAam)
with ferric ions. The photochemistry of FeÂ(III)-alginate was used
to tune the chemical composition, mechanical properties, and microstructure
of the materials upon visible light irradiation. The photochemical
treatment also induced changes in the swelling properties and transport
mechanism in the gels due to the changes in material composition and
microstructure. The AlgAam gels were biocompatible and could easily
be dried and rehydrated with no change in mechanical properties. These
gels showed promise as scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering,
where the photochemical treatment could be used to tune the properties
of the material and ultimately change the growth and extracellular
matrix production of chondrogenic cells. ATDC5 cells cultured on the
hydrogels showed a greater than 2-fold increase in the production
of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (sGAG) in the gels irradiated for 90
min compared to the dark controls. Our method provides a simple photochemical
tool to postsynthetically control and adjust the chemical and mechanical
environment in these gels, as well as the pore microstructure and
transport properties. By changing these properties, we could easily
access different levels of performance of these materials as substrates
for tissue engineering