Influence of polysaccharide composition on the biocompatibility of pullulan/dextran‐based hydrogels

Abstract

The implantation of a biomaterial for tissue engineering requires the presence of a suitable scaffold on which the tissue repair and regeneration will take place. Polymers have been frequently used for that purpose because they show similar properties to that of the natural extracellular matrix. Scaffold properties and biocompatibility are modulated by the composition of the polymers used. In this work four polysaccharide-based hydrogels (PSH) made of dextran and pullulan were synthesized. Their in vitro properties were determined and then tested in vivo in a rat model. As pullulan concentration increased in dextran hydrogels, the glass transition temperature and the maximum modulus decreased. In vitro degradation studies for 30 days demonstrated no significant degradation of PSH except for 100% pullulan hydrogel. In vivo tissue response evaluated 30 days after PSH subcutaneous implantation in rats indicated that all PSH were surrounded by a fibrous capsule. Adding pullulan to dextran induced an increased inflammatory reaction compared to PSH-D(100% dextran) or PSH-D(75)P(25)(75% dextran). This in vitro and in vivo data can be used in the design of hydrogels appropriate for tissue engineering applications.

Cell interactions between human progenitor-derived endothelial cells and human mesenchymal stem cells in a three-dimensional macroporous polysaccharide-based scaffold promote osteogenesis

“…The macroporous hydrophilic matrix used in this study is composed of natural polysaccharides, pullulan and dextran, and has already been used in cell therapy [48]. Pullulan and dextran are hydrophilic, and their biochemical similarity with the ECM is the rationale for their use as biodegradable scaffolds for tissue engineering [63].…”

“…These natural polymers hold promise for healing and regenerating damaged tissues, since they are highly permeable and facilitate the transport of nutrients and metabolites [46]. Here, a macroporous matrix was used, composed of the natural hydrophilic polysaccharides pullulan and dextran, which have already been used in cell therapy [47,48]. Their suitability has been proved for vascular cell growth [49] and for culturing MSCs from adipose tissue [50].…”

Cyclodextrin/dextran based hydrogels prepared by cross-linking with sodium trimetaphosphate

“…The dextran molecular weight also influences the swelling properties: at a STMP feed ratio around 10%, SR was found to be of the order of 60 (Maire et al, 2005), 39 (this work) and 10 (Abed et al, 2011) for M w 40,000, 70,000 and 200,000 g mol −1 , respectively. At a fixed STMP feed ratio, the hydrogel SR increases with NaOH concentration, with a variation close to one order of magnitude as the NaOH concentration varies between 1 and 2.5 mol L −1 .…”

“…Such hydrogels would combine the properties of both STMP crosslinked hydrogels and cyclodextrins, namely a better loading and a controlled release of hydrophobic drugs. Dextrans alone (Maire, Logeart-Avramoglou, Degat, & Chaubet, 2005), functionalized dextrans (Maire et al, 2005) or dextran/pullulan blends (Abed et al, 2011;Autissier et al, 2010;San Juan et al, 2009), have already been cross-linked with STMP to form hydrogel systems. Additionally, we have shown in a previous work that STMP can cross-link ␤CDs leading to water-soluble polymers (Wintgens, Dalmas, Sébille, & Amiel, 2013).…”

“…Polysaccharides, generally biocompatible, cross-linked with sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP), a non-toxic cyclic triphosphate, have led to hydrogels with many applications such as tissue engineering (Abed et al, 2011;Autissier, Letourneur, & Le Visage, 2007;Autissier, Visage, Pouzet, Chaubet, & Letourneur, 2010;Shi, Le Visage, & Chew, 2011), loading and delivering drug (Bejenariu, Popa, Dulong, Picton, & Le Cerf, 2009;Shalviri, Liu, Abdekhodaie, & Wu, 2010) or siRNA (San Juan et al, 2009), food thickeners (Khondkar, Tester, Hudson, Karkalas, & Morrow, 2007;Le Bail, Morin, & Marchessault, 1999;Sang, Prakash, & Seib, 2007;Sang, Seib, Herrera, Prakash, & Shi, 2010;Woo & Seib, 1997) as STMP is one of the few cross-linkers authorized in foodstuff.…”