Crosslinking of gum‐based composite scaffolds for enhanced strength and stability: A comparative study between sodium trimetaphosphate and glutaraldehyde

Abstract

Tissue engineering is one of the potential fields in the domain of regenerative medicine. Engineered scaffolds are an excellent substitute for the conventional use of bone grafts as they are biocompatible, economic, and provide limitless supply with no risk of disease transmission. Gum-based scaffolds present a good scope for studying tissue-engineering models and analyzing controlled drug delivery. Uniform blending of the gums and the presence of the optimal concentration of appropriate crosslinkers are very crucial for biodegradability nature. Gum-based scaffolds containing gellan gum, xanthan gum, polyvinyl alcohol, and hydroxyapatite, cross-linked with either glutaraldehyde (GA) or sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) were fabricated to study the efficiency of crosslinkers and were characterized for degradation profile, swelling capacity, porosity, mechanical strength, morphology, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared, and in vitro biocompatibility. Scaffolds crosslinked with STMP exhibited higher degradation rate at Day 21 than scaffolds crosslinked with GA. However, higher compressive strength was obtained for scaffolds cross-linked with STMP signifying that they have a better ability to resist compressive forces. Superior cell viability was observed in STMP-crosslinked scaffolds. In conclusion, STMP serves as a better crosslinker in comparison to GA and can be used in the fabrication of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.

Ionotropic Gelation and Chemical Crosslinking as Methods for Fabrication of Modified-Release Gellan Gum-Based Drug Delivery Systems

“…Among them, glutaraldehyde, for sure, is most often described; it is broadly used as a crosslinking agent for several biopolymers. Among them, chitosan [ 38 ] sodium alginate [ 39 ], cellulose [ 40 ], or gellan gum [ 41 ] can be distinguished. For example, polymer microspheres can be prepared by mixing solutions of polymer and glutaraldehyde in a mixture of oil and surfactants.…”

“…It turned out that crosslinking with GA resulted in lower degradation rates. According to the mechanical strength resistance toward the compressive forces, STMP-modified materials revealed better properties than GA. Additionally, the cell viability experiments showed that STMP can be regarded as a safer crosslinking agent [ 41 ].…”

“…There are many agents suitable for chemical crosslinking. Some of them, mentioned above, have already found application in gellan-based oral drug delivery systems, and some show great potential or have even been used in other formulations; for example, sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) was used to obtain a modified gellan scaffold for bone tissue engineering [ 41 ]. However, research reports regarding its application in gellan-based drug delivery systems are scarce.…”

Fabrication of Sodium Trimetaphosphate-Based PEDOT:PSS Conductive Hydrogels

“…The NPL composite hydrogels formed a layered structure in comparison to the pristine NPN films with smooth surfaces. STMP crosslinked with PEDOT:PSS to form a scaffold structure [61] at high concentration, as indicated by NPH and LPH (Figure 2E,F). For the LPH group, adding glycerol to STMP-based PEDOT:PSS hydrogels resulted in no significant morphological changes (Figure 2F).…”

Skin substitutes based on gellan gum with mechanical and penetration compatibility to native human skin

“…5,6 Gellan gum-based hydrogels or composite scaffolds have been applied for intervertebral disc and skeletal muscle tissue engineering, the dispersion of neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs), peripheral nerve regeneration, the promotion of fibroblast differentiation, skin wound healing, bone and cartilage tissue engineering and potential osteogenesis. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Hence, gellan gum is a promising candidate for applications in the field of tissue engineering of human tissues, such as skin.…”