Injectable and degradable PEG hydrogel was prepared via Michael-type addition between cross-linking monomer 4-arm-PEG-MAL and two cross-linkers of hydrolysis degradable PEG-diester-dithiol and non-degradable PEG-dithiol, and it had a porous structure with the uniform pore size. The biocompatibility assays in vitro indicated that PEG hydrogel had excellent biocompatibility and can be degraded naturally without leading to any negative impact on cells. The results of antibacterial experiments showed that PEG hydrogel can inhibit the growth of bacteria. Furthermore, the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, LIVE/DEAD cell staining, and scratch healing experiments proved that PEG hydrogel can promote cell proliferation and migration, which had been further confirmed in in vivo experiments on the rat wound models. All experimental results demonstrated that PEG hydrogel is an injectable antibacterial dressing, which can promote the process of wound healing and has great potential in the field of wound healing.
Calcification
of bioprosthetics is a primary challenge in the field
of artificial heart valves and a main reason for biological heart
valve prostheses failure. Recent advances in nanomaterial science
have promoted the development of polymers with advantageous properties
that are likely suitable for artificial heart valves. In this work,
we developed a nanocomposite polymeric biomaterial POSS–PEG
(polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-polyethylene glycol) hybrid
hydrogel, which not only has improved mechanical and surface properties
but also excellent biocompatibility. The results of atomic force microscopy
and in vivo animal experiments indicated that the content of POSS
in the PEG matrix plays an important role on the surface and contributes
to its biological properties, compared to the decellularized porcine
aortic valve scaffold. Additionally, this modification leads to enhanced
protection of the hydrogel from thrombosis. Furthermore, the introduction
of POSS nanoparticles also gives the hydrogel a better calcification
resistance efficacy, which was confirmed through in vitro tests and
animal experiments. These findings indicate that POSS–PEG hybrid
hydrogel is a potential material for functional heart valve prosthetics,
and the use of POSS nanocomposites in artificial valves may offer
potential long-term performance and durability advantages.
Tissue-engineered heart valves (TEHVs) are the most promising
replacement
for heart valve transplantation. Decellularized heart valve (DHV)
is one of the most common scaffold materials for TEHVs. In actual
clinical applications, the most widely used method for treating DHV
is cross-linking it with glutaraldehyde, but this method could cause
serious problems such as calcification. In this study, we introduced
polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanoparticles into a poly(ethylene
glycol) (PEG) hydrogel to prepare a POSS–PEG hybrid hydrogel,
and then coated them on the surface of DHV to prepare the composite
scaffold. The chemical structures, microscopic morphologies, cell
compatibilities, blood compatibilities, and anticalcification properties
were further investigated. Experimental results showed that the composite
scaffold had good blood compatibility and excellent cell compatibility
and could promote cell adhesion and proliferation. In vivo and in
vitro anticalcification experiments showed that the introduction of
POSS nanoparticles could reduce the degree of calcification significantly
and the composite scaffold had obvious anticalcification ability.
The DHV surface-coated with the POSS–PEG hybrid hydrogel is
an alternative scaffold material with anticalcification potential
for an artificial heart valve, which provides an idea for the preparation
of TEHVs.
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