New Photocrosslinked 3D Foamed Scaffolds Based on GelMA Copolymers: Potential Application in Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract

The production of customized polymeric hydrogels in the form of 3D scaffolds with application in bone tissue engineering is currently a topic of great interest. Based on gelatin methacryloyl (GelMa) as one of the most popular used biomaterials, GelMa with two different methacryloylation degrees (DM) was obtained, to achieve crosslinked polymer networks by photoinitiated radical polymerization. In this work, we present the obtention of new 3D foamed scaffolds based on ternary copolymers of GelMa with vinylpyrrolidone (VP) and 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA). All biopolymers obtained in this work were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), whose results confirm the presence of all copolymers in the crosslinked biomaterial. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pictures were obtained verifying the presence of the porosity created by freeze-drying process. In addition, the variation in its swelling degree and its enzymatic degradation in vitro was analyzed as a function of the different copolymers obtained. This has allowed us to observe good control of the variation in these properties described above in a simple way by varying the composition of the different comonomers used. Finally, with these concepts in mind, biopolymers obtained were tested through assessment of several biological parameters such as cell viability and differentiation with MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblastic cell line. Results obtained show that these biopolymers maintain good results in terms of cell viability and differentiation, along with tunable properties in terms of hydrophilic character, mechanical properties and enzymatic degradation.

Functionalized Collagen/Poly(ethylene glycol) Diacrylate Interpenetrating Network Hydrogel Enhances Beta Pancreatic Cell Sustenance

“…However, we discovered that the 5 ng/mL VEGF condition exhibited a tendency to sustain absorbed water over time compared to the other conditions. These results confirm the capacity of the functionalized material (5 ng/mL of VEGF) to maintain sufficiently high swelling values for its application as a cytocompatible biomaterial [ 44 ]. This rich water content provides a physical environment similar to that of native tissue, thus offering an intimate environment for cells to reside and grow [ 45 ].…”

“…This confirmed the stability of the hydrogels as a function of the applied frequency. In addition, the behavior of glassy solids is established with a typical oscillatory response for a gel-like material with a covalent polymer network formed by crosslinking PEGDA chains with a physically crosslinked collagen network [ 16 , 42 , 44 ]. These results confirm that the variation in the composition of hydrogels affects their deformation and flow, resulting in tunable materials [ 44 ].…”

“…In addition, the behavior of glassy solids is established with a typical oscillatory response for a gel-like material with a covalent polymer network formed by crosslinking PEGDA chains with a physically crosslinked collagen network [ 16 , 42 , 44 ]. These results confirm that the variation in the composition of hydrogels affects their deformation and flow, resulting in tunable materials [ 44 ]. This is advantageous for implantation applications because it resists shear stress at the in vivo site used for grafting.…”

“…We did not find statistically significant differences between the groups ( p > 0.05), but there was a tendency for the 3 and 5 ng/mL VEGF conditions to have a greater water absorption capacity than the 2 mg/mL and 1 ng/mL VEGF conditions. This characteristic is a key parameter because a high degree of swelling makes them excellent candidates for highly biocompatible materials [ 44 ].…”

Functionalized Collagen/Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Diacrylate Interpenetrating Network Hydrogel Enhances Beta-Pancreatic Cell Sustenance

“…We did not find statistically significant differences between the groups (p > 0.05), but there was a tendency for the 3 and 5 ng/mL VEGF conditions to have a greater water absorption capacity than the 2 mg/mL and 1 ng/mL VEGF conditions. This characteristic is a key parameter because a high degree of swelling makes them excellent candidates for highly biocompatible materials [44]. After eight days of culture, we found that the 5 ng/mL VEGF condition had a high swelling ratio (16.077 ± 1.178).…”