Double-Network Hydrogels Including Enzymatically Crosslinked Poly-(2-alkyl-2-oxazoline)s for 3D Bioprinting of Cartilage Engineering Constructs.

Double-Network Hydrogels Including Enzymatically Crosslinked Poly-(2-alkyl-2-oxazoline)s for 3D Bioprinting of Cartilage Engineering Constructs. Biomacromolecules. 2019 Nov 12;: Authors: Trachsel L, Johnbosco C, Lang T, Benetti EM, Zenobi-Wong M Abstract Double-network (DN) hydrogels are fabricated from poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEOXA)-peptide conjugates, which can be enzymatically crosslinked in the presence of Sortase A (SA), and physical networks of alginate (Alg), yielding matrices with improved mechanical properties with respect to the corresponding PEOXA and Alg single networks, and excellent biocompatibility towards encapsulated human auricular chondrocytes (hACs). The addition of a low content of cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) within DN hydrogel formulations provides to these the rheological properties that ensure their subsequent extrusion-based 3D printing, generating constructs with good shape fidelity. In the presence of hACs, PEOXA-Alg-CNF pre-hydrogel mixtures can be bioprinted, finally generating 3D structured DN hydrogel supports showing cell viability > 90%. Enlarging the application of poly(2-alkyl-2-oxazoline) (PAOXA)-based formulations in the designing of tissue engineering constructs, this study further demonstrates how SA-mediated enzymatic crosslinking represents a suitable and fully orthogonal method to generate biocompatible hydrogels with fast kinetics. PMID: 31714750 [PubMed - as supplied by publis...
Source: Biomacromolecules - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Tags: Biomacromolecules Source Type: research