Simple Preparation of Injectable Hydrogels with Phase-Separated Structures That Can Encapsulate Live Cells
Simple Preparation of Injectable Hydrogels with Phase-Separated Structures That Can Encapsulate Live Cells
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DOI：
10.1021/acsami.2c09906
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发表时间：
2022-07-26
影响因子：
9.5
通讯作者：
Sakai, Takamasa
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ishikawa, Shohei;Yoshikawa, Yuki;Sakai, Takamasa
可注射水凝胶是一种可以以液体形式微创给药的生物材料，被认为是有前途的人工细胞外基质（ECM）材料。然而，普通的可注射水凝胶是由水溶性分子合成的，以保证可注射性，导致其具有非相分离结构，这使得其在结构上不同于天然ecm具有相分离的不溶性结构蛋白，如胶原蛋白和弹性蛋白。在这里，我们提出了一种简单的材料设计方法，通过添加无机盐来赋予可注射水凝胶相分离结构。在最佳浓度的硫酸钾中注入相互交联的四臂聚乙二醇胶凝溶液，可以原位形成具有相分离结构的水凝胶。这些相分离的结构提供了高达8倍的断裂韧性，同时允许封装活的小鼠软骨细胞而不影响其增殖活性。我们的研究结果强调了无机盐的浓度是人工ecm注射水凝胶的一个重要设计参数。
Injectable hydrogels are biomaterials that can be administered minimally invasively in liquid form and are considered promising artificial extracellular matrix (ECM) materials. However, ordinary injectable hydrogels are synthesized from water-soluble molecules to ensure injectability, resulting in non phase-separated structures, making them structurally different from natural ECMs with phase-separated insoluble structural proteins, such as collagen and elastin. Here, we propose a simple material design approach to impart phase-separated structures to injectable hydrogels by adding inorganic salts. Injecting a gelling solution of mutually cross-linkable tetra-arm poly(ethylene glycol)s with potassium sulfate at optimal concentrations results in the formation of a hydrogel with phase-separated structures in situ. These phase-separated structures provide up to an 8-fold increase in fracture toughness while allowing the encapsulation of live mouse chondrogenic cells without compromising their proliferative activity. Our findings highlight that the concentration of inorganic salts is an important design parameter in injectable hydrogels for artificial ECMs.