Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Based Thermo-Responsive Hydrogels for Cell Sheet Engineering

Materials

Jin Woo Lee¹  Kuk Hui Son² 

[1] Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Gachon University, 155 Gaetbeol-ro, Yeonsu-ku, Incheon 21999, Korea;Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Gachon University, 34, Namdong-daero 774beon-gil, Namdong-gu, Incheon 21565, Korea;

关键词: N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm);    poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA);    thermo-responsive hydrogel;    cell sheet;    tissue engineering;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma9100854

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The swelling properties and thermal transition of hydrogels can be tailored by changing the hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance of polymer networks. Especially, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) has received attention as thermo-responsive hydrogels for tissue engineering because its hydrophobicity and swelling property are transited around body temperature (32 °C). In this study, we investigated the potential of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) as a hydrophilic co-monomer and crosslinker of PNIPAm to enhance biological properties of PNIPAm hydrogels. The swelling ratios, lower critical solution temperature (LCST), and internal pore structure of the synthesized p(NIPAm-co-PEGDA) hydrogels could be varied with changes in the molecular weight of PEGDA and the co-monomer ratios (NIPAm to PEGDA). We found that increasing the molecular weight of PEGDA showed an increase of pore sizes and swelling ratios of the hydrogels. In contrast, increasing the weight ratio of PEGDA under the same molecular weight condition increased the crosslinking density and decreased the swelling ratios of the hydrogels. Further, to evaluate the potential of these hydrogels as cell sheets, we seeded bovine chondrocytes on the p(NIPAm-co-PEGDA) hydrogels and observed the proliferation of the seed cells and their detachment as a cell sheet upon a decrease in temperature. Based on our results, we confirmed that p(NIPAm-co-PEGDA) hydrogels could be utilized as cell sheets with enhanced cell proliferation performance.

【 授权许可】

Unknown