Chitin-based double-network hydrogel as potential superficial soft tissue repairing materials.

Chitin-based double-network hydrogel as potential superficial soft tissue repairing materials. Biomacromolecules. 2020 Sep 16;: Authors: Huang J, Frauenlob M, Shibata Y, Wang L, Nakajima T, Nonoyama T, Tsuda M, Tanaka S, Kurokawa T, Gong JP Abstract Chitin is a biopolymer which has been proved to be a candidate as biomedical materials, yet the weak mechanical properties limited their potentials seriously. In this work, a chitin-based double-network (DN) hydrogel was designed as a potential superficial repairing material. The hydrogel was synthesized through double-network (DN) strategy composing hybrid regenerated chitin nanofibers (RCNs)-poly (ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether) (PEGDE) as the first network and polyacrylamide (PAAm) as the second network. The hybrid RCNs-PEGDE/PAAm DN hydrogel was strong and tough, possessing Young's modulus (elasticity) E 0.097 ± 0.020 MPa, fracture stress σf 0.449 ± 0.025 MPa, and work of fracture Wf 5.75 ± 0.35 MJ·m-3. The obtained DN hydrogel was strong enough for surgical requirements in the usage of soft tissue scaffolds. In addition, the chitin endowed the DN hydrogel with good bacteria resistance and accelerated fibroblast proliferation, which NIH3T3 cell number increased nearly 5 times within 3 days. Subcutaneous implantation studies showed that the DN hydrogel did not induce inflammation after 4 weeks, suggesting a good biosafety in vivo. These results indicated that the hybrid RCNs-PEG...
Source: Biomacromolecules - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Tags: Biomacromolecules Source Type: research