Control of swelling properties of polyvinyl alcohol/hyaluronic acid hydrogels for the encapsulation of chondrocyte cells

Abstract

Hydrogel scaffolds for tissue engineering are important biomaterials. The target in this study was to prepare polyvinyl alcohol/hyaluronic acid hydrogels for the encapsulation of chondrocyte cells by a simple cross-linking reaction. Control of the swelling properties and morphology of the hydrogels for cultivation of chondrocytes was studied. The hydrogels were prepared from polyvinyl alcohol and hyaluronic acid derivatives bearing primary amine and aldehyde functionalities, respectively. The formation of the hydrogel upon mixing the aqueous solutions of the polymer derivatives took place at room temperature in a few seconds. The swelling properties of the hydrogels were found to depend on the polymer concentration and degree of substitution of the modified polymers. Scanning electron microscopy studies showed that the hydrogels had a suitable porous morphology for cell encapsulation. Furthermore, in vitro cell viability tests with the hydrogels showed no cytotoxicity for chondrocytes and that the cells grew well in the hydrogel scaffolds.

Advances of injectable hydrogel-based scaffolds for cartilage regeneration

“…However, these two similar components have different and mutually beneficial properties. For example, a dual-network hydrogel consisting of HA with a high molecular weight (>1600 kDa) with PVA with a low molecular weight (27 kDa) was constructed by Pirinen et al [58], which were further chemically cross-linked by the reaction between aldehydes and primary amines. The swelling properties can be tuned by varying the size of the PVA component.…”

Recent advances in hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering

“…Along the same lines of using HA as the biologically relevant component, Pirinen et al developed a dual network hydrogel using high molecular weight HA (>1,600 kDa) and low molecular weight PVA (27 kDa) functionalized with aldehydes and primary amines for crosslinking (Pirinen et al ., 2015). This dual hydrogel system was amenable to tunable swelling properties by varying the size of the smaller PVA component, and encapsulation of bovine knee chondrocytes showed favorable cell viability for at least 2 weeks in culture (Pirinen et al ., 2015).…”

“…This dual hydrogel system was amenable to tunable swelling properties by varying the size of the smaller PVA component, and encapsulation of bovine knee chondrocytes showed favorable cell viability for at least 2 weeks in culture (Pirinen et al ., 2015). Similar hydrogel systems (e.g., with HA and gelatin) have also produced favorable results in construct formation and maturation.…”

Films Based on Blends of Polyvinyl Alcohol and Microbial Hyaluronic Acid

“…The incorporation of HA on films based on blends to wound dressing application is justified due to the polymer improve the proliferation, differentiation and migration of cells during the regeneration and healing of tissues [14][15][16][17]. The blend system of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and HA has been reported to be a promising material for biomedical application [16,18,19].…”

“…Previous studies have used commercial HA for production of PVA-HA gels [18,22,23], cryogels membranes [16,24,25] and solutions [26]. Ding and coauthors [27] obtained a multi-layered hydrogel film system based on hyaluronic acid-cysteamine (HA-Cym) and PVA.…”