PHEMA Hydrogels Obtained by Infrared Radiation for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Although the exposure of polymeric materials to radiation is a well-established process, little is known about the relationship between structure and property and the biological behavior of biomaterials obtained by thermal phenomena at 1070 nm wavelength. This study includes results concerning the use of a novel infrared radiation source (ytterbium laser fiber) for the synthesis of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) hydrogel in order to produce medical devices. The materials were obtained by means of free radical polymerization mechanism and evaluated regarding its cross-linking degree, polymer chain mobility, thermal, and mechanical properties. Their potential use as a biomaterial toward cartilage tissue was investigated through incubation with chondrocytes cells culture by dimethylmethylene blue (DMMB) dye and DNA quantification. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results showed that glass transition temperature (Tg) was in the range 103°C–119°C, the maximum degree of swelling was 70.8%, and indentation fluency test presented a strain of 56%–85%. A significant increase of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) concentration and DNA content in cells cultured with 40 wt% 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate was observed. Our results showed the suitability of infrared laser fiber in the free radicals formation and in the rapid polymer chain growth, and further cross-linking. The porous material obtained showed improvements concerning cartilage tissue regeneration.

Synthesis and Evaluation of AlgNa-g-Poly(QCL-co-HEMA) Hydrogels as Platform for Chondrocyte Proliferation and Controlled Release of Betamethasone

“…Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymeric structures, capable of retaining large amounts of water or fluids without dissolving or losing their integrity. Due to these characteristics, they have a high similarity to living tissues, and they are suitable platforms for tissue engineering, drug-carrying matrices, artificial articular cartilage, and smart devices to external stimuli, such as pH and temperature [ 7 ]. To treat joint cartilage damage, hydrogels are created to be resident substitutes when replacing injured cartilage or to be used as cell-laden or drug-laden components that promote or stimulate tissue regeneration [ 8 ].…”

“…This morphology, in turn, would be the result of the active interaction of chondrocytes with alginate molecules. In another study, the incorporation of alginate in poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels increased the amount of glycosaminoglycans and the proliferation of cultured chondrocytes [ 7 ]. However, hydrogels obtained only from natural polymers are mechanically weak due to the large amount of water they absorb.…”

Synthesis and Infrared Performance of SiB6 Powder through “Chemical Oven” Self-Propagating Combustion

“…Infrared radiation coating could improve the emissivity of coating surface effectively [1,2], enhancing the radiation heat transfer and achieving the purpose of energy saving. us, it shows a broad application prospect on the energy conservation of industrial kiln.…”

Synthesis and evaluation of AlgNa-g-poly(QCL-co-HEMA) hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering and controlled release of betamethasone.

“…Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymeric structures, capable of retaining large amounts of water or fluids without dissolving or losing their integrity. Due to these characteristics, they have a high similarity to living tissues, and they are suitable platforms for tissue engineering, drug-carrying matrices, artificial articular cartilage, and smart devices to external stimuli such as pH and temperature [7]. The use of natural polymers such as polysaccharides for developing of these matrices has been frequently studied for past decades.…”