A hydrolytically-tunable photocrosslinked PLA-PEG-PLA/PCL-PEG-PCL dual-component hydrogel that enhances matrix deposition of encapsulated chondrocytes

Abstract

In this study, a series of photocrosslinked hydrogels were designed composed of both poly(lactide)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(lactide) (PEL) and poly(ε-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEC) macromers. The PEL/PEC hydrogels at ratios of 100:0, 75:25, 50;50, 25:75 and 0:100 were studied for their degradation characteristics and their ability to support chondrogenesis of encapsulated chondrocytes. Difference in hydrolytic susceptibility between copolymers led to different degradation patterns where higher PEC content correlated with slower degradation. Increased chondrogenic gene expression was observed in chondrocyte-laden hydrogels within a 4-week culture period. Biochemical and histological evaluations revealed significant accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins such as glycosaminoglycans and collagen in the 50/50 hydrogel owing to appropriate tuning of hydrogel degradation. These results demonstrate that the dual-component photocrosslinked hydrogel system is suitable for use as scaffold to support chondrogenesis and, moreover, the tunability of these systems opens up possibilities for use in different cell culturing applications. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Synthesis and Properties of Flexible Polyurethane Using Ferric Catalyst for Hypopharyngeal Tissue Engineering

“…In comparison, CPU3 (b2) was more homogeneous and did not cause any hemolysis, pyrogen, or hyperergia with the surrounding tissue throughout the research, accompanied with some angiogenesis. These results implied that hydrophilic CPU synthesized using ferric catalyst was more biocompatible to animal tissue than the hydrophobic PU scaffold using tin compound catalyst [ 12 ].…”

“…In this work, polycaprolactone-poly(ethylene glycol)-polycaprolactone (PCL-PEG-PCL) was introduced as the segmented polyester diols to synthesize a degradable polyurethane since the PCL-PEG-PCL segment can enhance the material's hydrolytic process and material's flexibility due to its components of flexible PCL and hydrophilic PEG [ 12 ]. PCL-PEG-PCL diols was firstly synthesized with monomers of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and ε -caprolactone ( ε -CL) using iron (III) acetylacetonate as the catalyst [ 13 ].…”

N-Hydroxysuccinimide Bifunctionalized Triblock Cross-Linker Having Hydrolysis Property for a Biodegradable and Injectable Hydrogel System

“…The swelling test of hydrogels was performed according to the previously reported protocol . Three-hundred-microliter hydrogels were prepared as described above and immersed in 1 mL of PBS overnight at 4 °C to reach a swelling equilibrium.…”

“…The swelling test of hydrogels was performed according to the previously reported protocol. 20 Three-hundred-microliter hydrogels were prepared as described above and immersed in 1 mL of PBS overnight at 4 °C to reach a swelling equilibrium. After the supernatant was removed and the surface water wiped off, the swollen weight of the hydrogels was recorded as W s .…”

Progress in Articular Cartilage Tissue Engineering: A Review on Therapeutic Cells and Macromolecular Scaffolds

“…The different hydrolysis sensitivity of the precursors, caused by different PEG contents, leads to different degradation kinetics. The higher expression of chondrogenic gene and the production of cartilage ECM is observed on ratios of 50/50 PEL/PEC hydrogels after 4 weeks of chondrocytes encapsulation . Caprolactone segments are incorporated into eight‐arm PEG by hydrolytically labile ester linkages, and followed by end‐capping with norbornene.…”