Preparation and characterization of methacrylated gelatin/bacterial cellulose composite hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering

Abstract

Methacrylated gelatin (GelMA)/bacterial cellulose (BC) composite hydrogels have been successfully prepared by immersing BC particles in GelMA solution followed by photo-crosslinking. The morphology of GelMA/BC hydrogel was examined by scanning electron microscopy and compared with pure GelMA. The hydrogels had very well interconnected porous network structure, and the pore size decreased from 200 to 10 µm with the increase of BC content. The composite hydrogels were also characterized by swelling experiment, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, rheology experiment and compressive test. The composite hydrogels showed significantly improved mechanical properties compared with pure GelMA. In addition, the biocompatility of composite hydrogels were preliminarily evaluated using human articular chondrocytes. The cells encapsulated within the composite hydrogels for 7 days proliferated and maintained the chondrocytic phenotype. Thus, the GelMA/BC composite hydrogels might be useful for cartilage tissue engineering.

Peer Review #4 of "Preparation and characterization of gelatin-polysaccharide composite hydrogels for tissue engineering (v0.1)"

“…Nadezhda et al also considered that the swelling capacity of the microspheres prepared by alginate and GA was mainly regulated by the content of GA (Lewandowska-Łańcucka et al 2017). The higher swelling capacity of the hydrogels enhances cell proliferation and cell viability by facilitating transport of nutrients into the hydrogels (Annabi et al 2011;Gu et al 2020). That corresponds well with our findings.…”

“…1C-G). Swelling capacity reflects the hydrophilic character and water retention capacity of hydrogels, and is also an important factor for predicting nutrient transfer within hydrogels (Gu et al 2020). After being immersed in PBS for 24 h, mTG/GA, C-mTG/GA, and A-mTG/GA hydrogels were slightly expanded, whereas the volumes of chitosan and alginates hydrogels almost remained unchanged.…”

Preparation and characterization of gelatin-polysaccharide composite hydrogels for tissue engineering

“…Swelling capacity reflects the hydrophilic character and water retention capacity of hydrogels, and is also an important factor for predicting nutrient transfer within hydrogels ( Gu et al, 2020 ). After being immersed in PBS for 24 h, mTG/GA, C-mTG/GA, and A-mTG/GA hydrogels were slightly expanded, whereas the volumes of chitosan and alginates hydrogels almost remained unchanged.…”

“…Nadezhda et al also considered that the swelling capacity of the microspheres prepared by alginate and GA was mainly regulated by the content of GA ( Lewandowska-Łańcucka et al, 2017 ). The higher swelling capacity of the hydrogels enhances cell proliferation and cell viability by facilitating transport of nutrients into the hydrogels ( Annabi et al, 2011 ; Gu et al, 2020 ). That corresponds well with our findings.…”

Effect of Different Additives on the Mechanical Properties of Gelatin Methacryloyl Hydrogel: A Meta-analysis

“…There were 16 literatures that explicitly refer to the light intensity of the experiment, among which units in Bektas, 46 Ratheesh, 48 and Gu 54 cannot be unified with others. So these three articles were excluded, and the remaining 13 articles were divided into two groups according to the light intensity: I ≤ 10 mW/cm 2 and I > 10 mW/cm 2 ( I is the light intensity).…”