The effects of surface topography modification on hydrogel properties

Abstract

Hydrogel has been an attractive biomaterial for tissue engineering, drug delivery, wound healing, and contact lens materials, due to its outstanding properties, including high water content, transparency, biocompatibility, tissue mechanical matching, and low toxicity. As hydrogel commonly possesses high surface hydrophilicity, chemical modifications have been applied to achieve the optimal surface properties to improve the performance of hydrogels for specific applications. Ideally, the effects of surface modifications would be stable, and the modification would not affect the inherent hydrogel properties. In recent years, a new type of surface modification has been discovered to be able to alter hydrogel properties by physically patterning the hydrogel surfaces with topographies. Such physical patterning methods can also affect hydrogel surface chemical properties, such as protein adsorption, microbial adhesion, and cell response. This review will first summarize the works on developing hydrogel surface patterning methods. The influence of surface topography on interfacial energy and the subsequent effects on protein adsorption, microbial, and cell interactions with patterned hydrogel, with specific examples in biomedical applications, will be discussed. Finally, current problems and future challenges on topographical modification of hydrogels will also be discussed.

Functional biomaterials

“…12 Subsequently, the review by Cui and colleagues summarizes how hydrogel surface patterning-induced topographic features may affect their physicochemical and biological properties, and accordingly, the cellular interactions. 13 Specific applications of mechanotransduction were demonstrated by Marinval and Chew and by Shi and colleagues, respectively, surrounding neuronal tissue 14 and cardiac tissue. 15…”

Chronic lung diseases: entangled in extracellular matrix

“…Linearly aligned collagen fibres induce unidirectional migration of fibroblasts [43]. While microscale topography is challenging to assess in tissue or hydrogels, extensive knowledge about cellular behaviour has been gained using artificially generated topographies on silicone rubber (dimethylpolysiloxane), as well as on other natural and synthetic biomaterials (reviewed in [44,45]). Whether cells stay on top of the topography or whether cells engulf the topography depends on the hydrophobicity and adsorbed proteins [46,47].…”

Biomaterials for Helicobacter pylori therapy: therapeutic potential and future perspectives

“…Hydrogels are hydrophilic three-dimensional network-structured gels formed by water-soluble or hydrophilic polymers through chemical or physical cross-linking. 127 As another efficient delivery system for H. pylori therapeutic agents, hydrogels exhibit good biocompatibility, degradability, and controlled drug-release capacity. 128–130 Chitosan and its derivatives are often used as base materials to prepare hydrogels because of their antibacterial and adhesion properties with H. pylori .…”