Injectable and tunable hyaluronic acid hydrogels releasing chemotactic and angiogenic growth factors for endodontic regeneration

Abstract

Innovative strategies for improved chemotactic and pro-angiogenic features of TE constructs are needed. In this study, we developed an injectable HA/CNC/PL hydrogel with improved structural and biologic properties, that not only provide a sustained release of chemotactic and proangiogenic GFs from PL but also enhance the cells' viability and angiogenic activity. As a result of their unique traits, the developed hydrogels are ideally suited to simultaneously act as a GFs controlled delivery system and as a supportive matrix for cell culture, recruitment, and revascularization induction, holding great potential for the regeneration of vascularized soft tissues, such as the dentin-pulp complex.

Injectable Biomaterials for Dental Tissue Regeneration

“…Hydrogel acquired from chitosan-hyaluronic and its applications in periodontal tissue engineering and hyaluronic acid-based scaffolds is used in controlling cell response and constructing ultimate tissue engineering products, for example, in dental tissue or other tissue engineering applications [133]. On the other hand, hyaluronic acid is a commonly used natural materials used to fabricate scaffolds as hydrogels [134,135]. The hydrogel scaffolds are used to regulate inflammation responses, cell angiogenesis, migration, as well as differentiation of cells, and thus they are ideal scaffold materials for tissue engineering due to its non-toxic degradation and excellent biocompatibility features [136,137].…”

Chemical cross-linking methods for cell encapsulation in hydrogels

“…[243] Many more examples of (acyl)hydrazone cross-linked hydrogels exist. [108,110,111,117,101,[244][245][246] As a final illustration, we can mention the hydrogels developed by Dahlmann et al for myocardial tissue engineering. They produced spontaneously contracting bio-artificial cardiac tissues by encapsulating neonatal rat heart cells in acylhydrazone cross-linked alginate-HA hydrogels containing human type I collagen.…”

Growth Factors and Cell Homing in Dental Tissue Regeneration

“…Another solution is to develop biomaterials, which incorporate a mechanism to control and sustain the release of GFs to aid SC migration, attachment, and rapid vascularization of the pulp space. These functionalized scaffolds could be injected into the root canal space and incorporate GFs such as bFGF, TGF-β1, PDGF, and VEGF [100–102], and other morphogens incorporated into the structure. Although seemingly a physiologically attractive solution, the use of exogenous GFs embedded in scaffolds is complicated by GF instability and short-half life, expense, safety, ethical issues, and the need for extensive clinical trials in various phases before approval.…”