Recent trends in gelatin methacryloyl nanocomposite hydrogels for tissue engineering

Abstract

Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA), a photocrosslinkable gelatin-based hydrogel, has been immensely used for diverse applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery.Apart from its excellent functionality and versatile mechanical properties, it is also suitable for a wide range of fabrication methodologies to generate tissue constructs of desired shapes and sizes. Despite its exceptional characteristics, it is predominantly limited by its weak mechanical strength, as some tissue types naturally possess high mechanical stiffness. The use of high GelMA concentrations yields high mechanical strength, but not without the compromise in its porosity, degradability, and three-dimensional (3D) cell attachment. Recently, GelMA has been blended with various natural and synthetic biomaterials to reinforce its physical properties to match with the tissue to be engineered. Among these, nanomaterials have been extensively used to form a composite with GelMA, as they increase its biological and physicochemical properties without affecting the unique characteristics of GelMA and also introduce electrical and magnetic properties. This review article presents the recent advances in the formation of hybrid GelMA nanocomposites using a variety of nanomaterials (carbon, metal, polymer, and mineral-based). We give an overview of each nanomaterial's characteristics followed by a discussion of the enhancement in GelMA's physical properties after its incorporation. Finally, we also highlight the use of each GelMA nanocomposite for different applications, such as cardiac, bone, and neural regeneration.

Highly Responsive Chitosan-Co-Poly (MAA) Nanomatrices through Cross-Linking Polymerization for Solubility Improvement

“…Hydrogels are three-dimensional (3D) cross-linked polymeric chains with a high water-absorption capacity [ 26 ]. They can be employed as very efficient, stimuli responsive and biodegradable drug carriers in drug delivery systems [ 27 , 28 ]. Based upon the size of the obtained particles, hydrogels can be classified as macrogels, microgels, and nanogels/nanomatrices.…”

Progress in Gelatin as Biomaterial for Tissue Engineering

“…To address this, recent advances have combined methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) hydrogels with nanocomposites. The addition of nanocomposites includes materials that extend conductivity (carbon-based materials, metals) and even minerals such as hydroxyapatite [60]. Lately, an exciting approach to regenerate electrically active tissues (skeletal muscle, neural) based on blending polymer with highly conductive materials has been reported.…”

Gelatin Methacryloyl Hydrogels for Musculoskeletal Tissue Regeneration

“…To overcome this issue, gelatin derived from fish has been chosen as an alternative source [ 33 ]. The source of gelatin affects the mechanical properties of hydrogels fabricated from the functionalized form which can be attributed to the number of amino acids available for modification [ 33 , 34 ]. For example, GelMA from a porcine source is the least viscous but displays the highest compressive modulus at room temperature when compared to gels obtained from fish-derived GelMA.…”