Design of Injectable Bioartificial Hydrogels by Green Chemistry for Mini-Invasive Applications in the Biomedical or Aesthetic Medicine Fields
Bioartificial hydrogels are hydrophilic systems extensively studied for regenerative medicine due to the synergic combination of features of synthetic and natural polymers. Injectability is another crucial property for hydrogel mini-invasive administration. This work aimed at engineering injectable...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Gels |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2310-2861/9/1/59 |
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| author | Rossella Laurano Monica Boffito Claudio Cassino Francesco Liberti Gianluca Ciardelli Valeria Chiono |
| author_facet | Rossella Laurano Monica Boffito Claudio Cassino Francesco Liberti Gianluca Ciardelli Valeria Chiono |
| author_sort | Rossella Laurano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Bioartificial hydrogels are hydrophilic systems extensively studied for regenerative medicine due to the synergic combination of features of synthetic and natural polymers. Injectability is another crucial property for hydrogel mini-invasive administration. This work aimed at engineering injectable bioartificial in situ cross-linkable hydrogels by implementing green and eco-friendly approaches. Specifically, the versatile poly(ether urethane) (PEU) chemistry was exploited for the development of an amphiphilic PEU, while hyaluronic acid was selected as natural component. Both polymers were functionalized to expose thiol and catechol groups through green water-based carbodiimide-mediated grafting reactions. Functionalization was optimized to maximize grafting yield while preserving group functionality. Then, polymer miscibility was studied at the macro-, micro-, and nano-scale, suggesting the formation of hydrogen bonds among polymeric chains. All hydrogels could be injected through G21 and G18 needles in a wide temperature range (4–25 °C) and underwent sol-to-gel transition at 37 °C. The addition of an oxidizing agent to polymer solutions did not improve the gelation kinetics, while it negatively affected hydrogel stability in an aqueous environment, suggesting the occurrence of oxidation-triggered polymer degradation. In the future, the bioartificial hydrogels developed herein could find application in the biomedical and aesthetic medicine fields as injectable formulations for therapeutic agent delivery. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:37:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-41a2c8327f6340108ebf056b9413094a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2310-2861 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:37:45Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Gels |
| spelling | doaj.art-41a2c8327f6340108ebf056b9413094a2023-11-30T22:21:53ZengMDPI AGGels2310-28612023-01-01915910.3390/gels9010059Design of Injectable Bioartificial Hydrogels by Green Chemistry for Mini-Invasive Applications in the Biomedical or Aesthetic Medicine FieldsRossella Laurano0Monica Boffito1Claudio Cassino2Francesco Liberti3Gianluca Ciardelli4Valeria Chiono5Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Science and Technological Innovation, Università del Piemonte Orientale, 15121 Alessandria, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, ItalyBioartificial hydrogels are hydrophilic systems extensively studied for regenerative medicine due to the synergic combination of features of synthetic and natural polymers. Injectability is another crucial property for hydrogel mini-invasive administration. This work aimed at engineering injectable bioartificial in situ cross-linkable hydrogels by implementing green and eco-friendly approaches. Specifically, the versatile poly(ether urethane) (PEU) chemistry was exploited for the development of an amphiphilic PEU, while hyaluronic acid was selected as natural component. Both polymers were functionalized to expose thiol and catechol groups through green water-based carbodiimide-mediated grafting reactions. Functionalization was optimized to maximize grafting yield while preserving group functionality. Then, polymer miscibility was studied at the macro-, micro-, and nano-scale, suggesting the formation of hydrogen bonds among polymeric chains. All hydrogels could be injected through G21 and G18 needles in a wide temperature range (4–25 °C) and underwent sol-to-gel transition at 37 °C. The addition of an oxidizing agent to polymer solutions did not improve the gelation kinetics, while it negatively affected hydrogel stability in an aqueous environment, suggesting the occurrence of oxidation-triggered polymer degradation. In the future, the bioartificial hydrogels developed herein could find application in the biomedical and aesthetic medicine fields as injectable formulations for therapeutic agent delivery.https://www.mdpi.com/2310-2861/9/1/59bioartificial hydrogelsinjectable systemsgreen functionalization proceduresin situ cross-linkingmini-invasive applications |
| spellingShingle | Rossella Laurano Monica Boffito Claudio Cassino Francesco Liberti Gianluca Ciardelli Valeria Chiono Design of Injectable Bioartificial Hydrogels by Green Chemistry for Mini-Invasive Applications in the Biomedical or Aesthetic Medicine Fields Gels bioartificial hydrogels injectable systems green functionalization procedures in situ cross-linking mini-invasive applications |
| title | Design of Injectable Bioartificial Hydrogels by Green Chemistry for Mini-Invasive Applications in the Biomedical or Aesthetic Medicine Fields |
| title_full | Design of Injectable Bioartificial Hydrogels by Green Chemistry for Mini-Invasive Applications in the Biomedical or Aesthetic Medicine Fields |
| title_fullStr | Design of Injectable Bioartificial Hydrogels by Green Chemistry for Mini-Invasive Applications in the Biomedical or Aesthetic Medicine Fields |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design of Injectable Bioartificial Hydrogels by Green Chemistry for Mini-Invasive Applications in the Biomedical or Aesthetic Medicine Fields |
| title_short | Design of Injectable Bioartificial Hydrogels by Green Chemistry for Mini-Invasive Applications in the Biomedical or Aesthetic Medicine Fields |
| title_sort | design of injectable bioartificial hydrogels by green chemistry for mini invasive applications in the biomedical or aesthetic medicine fields |
| topic | bioartificial hydrogels injectable systems green functionalization procedures in situ cross-linking mini-invasive applications |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2310-2861/9/1/59 |
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