甲基丙烯酰胺基明胶水凝胶研究进展

甲基丙烯酰胺基明胶(GelMA)水凝胶的制备及其在生物医学领域的应用是最近十几年的研究热点。GelMA水凝胶因其独特的光致交联特性,可以加工成不同形貌的水凝胶支架材料,同时,因其具有可控的力学性能、降解性能,以及优秀的生物相容性,已成为具有广泛应用前景的生物高分子聚合物材料。本文主要介绍了GelMA水凝胶在止血材料、创伤敷料、组织工程支架、药物控释、骨缺损修复等领域的研究进展。     

壳聚糖与聚乙二醇交联水凝胶研究

研究对壳聚糖(CS)进行化学修饰得到了不同丙烯酰基取代度(1.03%,3.55%和5.21%)的丙烯酰化羟丙基壳聚糖(AHCS);通过自由基引发反应,AHCS与聚乙二醇二丙烯酸酯(PEGDA)交联得到壳聚糖(CS)与聚乙二醇(PEG)为主体的交联水凝胶。通过SEM观察其为通透性良好的多孔性支架材料。水凝胶的溶胶含量和溶胀度随丙烯酰基取代度的增加而降低,水凝胶中壳聚糖的降解速率也随丙烯酰基取代度的升高而降低。对于同一取代度的交联水凝胶,其在酸性和碱性条件下的溶胀度大于中性环境。细胞试验表明,壳聚糖与聚乙二醇交联水凝胶具有良好的生物相容性。     

3α,7α,12α-三甲基丙烯酰基胆酸甲酯的制备与聚合物特性研究

以甲基丙烯酰氯为酰化试剂，合成了3α，7α，12α-甲基丙烯酰胆酸甲酯(CAME3MA)，研究了CAME3MA的光引发本体聚合和溶液聚合反应，并且对CAME3MA及其聚合物的特性进行了表征．实验表明：CAME3MA的本体光引发聚合转化率随光照时间的延长逐渐增加并达到一个最大值，最终的聚合转化率在36％左右，溶液聚合得到线性聚合物。     

“可点击”丙烯酸酯聚合物的合成及其巯-炔光交联研究

通过丙烯酰氯和1-乙炔基1-环己醇的酯化反应,制备了乙炔基功能化的丙烯酸酯功能单体1-乙炔基环己基丙烯酯(ECA)。以该单体与丙烯酸甲酯(MA)进行自由基聚合反应,合成了乙炔基功能化均聚物(PECA)和共聚物(PMA-co-PECA),用1 HNMR、FT-IR、GPC等对其结构进行了表征。结果表明:在自由基聚合过程中,ECA中的乙炔基得以保留,所得到的乙炔基功能化聚合物可溶于普通有机溶剂,如氯仿、二甲基亚砜、四氢呋喃、丙酮等。实时红外跟踪了PMA-co-PECA与三羟甲基丙烷三巯基丙酸酯经光引发的巯-炔反应,得到交联的聚合物网络,凝胶分数大于90%,表明聚合物链上保留的乙炔基与巯基的加成反应有较高的活性,可以通过硫醇-炔点击反应实现快速功能化。     

结肠位点药物传载凝胶的溶胀动力学研究

合成了带不同疏水侧基的甲基丙烯酸酯、甲基丙烯酰胺及丙烯酸与 4,4′ 二 (甲基丙烯酰胺基 )偶氮苯交联共聚的凝胶 .主要研究了这类凝胶在pH =2 .2至pH =7.4的缓冲溶液的溶胀特性 .其溶胀过程遵循二级溶胀动力学 ,影响这类凝胶溶胀行为的因素包括交联程度、疏水基链的长度、pH值等 .通过调节这些因素是完全可以控制凝胶在小肠内的溶胀程度 ,进而避免凝胶内部的药物被提前释放     

一种两性三元共聚物的合成

选用聚乙二醇二丙烯酸酯(PEGDA)为扩链剂,以丙烯酰胺(AM)、2-甲基-2-丙烯酰胺基丙磺酸(AMPS)、甲基丙烯酰氧乙基三甲基氯化铵(DMC)为主单体,采用水溶液聚合方法合成了两性三元共聚物AM/AMPS/DMC;测定了共聚物的性能,并利用红外光谱研究了其分子结构.结果表明,所合成的共聚物具有良好的耐酸和高温稳定性,以及高抗剪切率.     

C=C修饰的胆酸功能单体的非等温固化动力学研究

采用非等温DSC法分别对3,7,12–三甲基丙烯酰基胆酸甲酯(CAME3MA)和2-甲基丙烯酰氧基-3,7,12-三甲基丙烯酰基胆酸乙酯(CAGE4MA)的固化反应进行了研究,并与2-甲基丙烯酰氧基-3-甲基丙烯酰基胆酸乙酯(CAGE2MA)固化体系进行了比较。结果显示,3个体系有相似的非等温固化曲线,但是相同升温速率的峰顶温度不同,C=C数量越多,放热峰温度越高。用Kissinger法处理非等温DSC数据,3个体系的Ea和lnA值有差别,变化趋势均为CAGE2MA>CAGE4MA>CAME3MA。由于CAGE2MA容易形成分子间氢键,因此它反应所需的活化能也比后两者大;CAME3MA的分子间作用力稍小于CAGE4MA,因此前者的固化反应活化能也比后者略低。     

负载蛋白质的胶原/聚两性电解质IPN角膜替代物

以碳二亚胺/N-羟基琥珀酰亚胺(EDC/NHS)和聚乙二醇二丙烯酸酯(PEGDA)为交联剂分别对猪皮去端肽Ⅰ型胶原和3-(甲基丙烯酰胺)丙基-二甲基(3-磺丙)胺(MPDSAH)进行交联, 制备了具有互穿聚合物网络(IPN)结构的角膜替代物. 胶原基IPN角膜替代物的折光指数和白光透过率与天然人角膜相似. IPN水凝胶具有优于纯胶原凝胶的力学性能, 同时PMPDSAH网络的引入明显提高了IPN凝胶在胶原酶中的稳定性. 体外细胞培养实验结果表明, IPN角膜替代物支持人角膜上皮细胞生长. 通过冷冻干燥-溶胀后包覆技术可将牛血清白蛋白(BSA)和神经生长因子(NGF)装载到角膜替代物中, 负载药物的冻干凝胶可干态保存, 避免了湿态下蛋白质等活性因子的失活和漏泄; 再吸水恢复原状的特性可使角膜替代物完好地移植病灶部位, NGF具有良好的缓释效果. 此负载NGF的复合角膜替代物有望促进角膜组织和神经的再生.     

一种新型海洋胶原蛋白复合水凝胶的制备及评价

海星具有很强的再生能力，体壁中含有丰富的胶原蛋白(SSC)。以甲基丙烯酸化透明质酸(HAMA)和甲基丙烯酸化胶原蛋白(SSCMA)为原料，复合海洋源小球藻生长因子(CGF),采用紫外光交联法制备复合水凝胶，并对复合水凝胶的力学性能、溶胀性、降解性能、微观结构进行分析，同时验证了复合水凝胶对细胞的毒性及增殖作用。通过扫描电镜观察到SSCMA/HAMA/CGF复合水凝胶具有明显的孔状结构，随着HAMA比例的增加，水凝胶的力学性能也得到了提高。当HAMA的添加量为60%时，复合水凝胶在24 h内的溶胀率最大，可达到其自身重量的5倍左右。经过30天，SSCMA/HAMA/CGF-75发生最大量的降解。SSCMA/HAMA/CGF复合水凝胶对小鼠表皮成纤维细胞(L929)无毒副作用，表现出良好的细胞相容性，且对小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞(NIH-3T3)具有明显的增殖作用，其中SSCMA/HAMA/CGF-60对细胞的增殖率最大，可达129.70%。     

含有4,4′-双(甲基丙烯酰胺基)偶氮苯水凝胶的合成及其在结肠位药物释放的动物实验

合成了不同链长的甲基丙烯酸酯、甲基丙烯酰胺及丙烯酸与4,4′-双(甲基丙烯酰胺基)偶氮苯交联共聚的功能凝胶.三维网络结构通过压缩弹性模量、有效交联密度及聚合物与溶剂间的相互作用参数进行了表征.主要研究了这类凝胶在pH2.2和pH7.4的缓冲溶液的平衡溶胀特性及其偶氮交联基团在体内的降解行为,并讨论了其降解机制.凝胶在胃部的性能稳定,既不发生溶胀,亦不发生降解;但在盲肠内偶氮交联基因可发生降解.其降解率与凝胶的平衡溶胀程度有一个很好的关联:交联程度、疏水基侧链的长度及含量对凝胶溶胀行为的影响结果与这些因素对偶氮交联基团体内降解的影响结果完全一致.通过调节这些因素不仅可以控制凝胶的溶胀程度,而且可以控制偶氮交联基团在体内的降解行为.     

Photo‐crosslinkable hydrogel‐based 3D microfluidic culture device

We developed the photo‐crosslinkable hydrogel‐based 3D microfluidic device to culture neural stem cells (NSCs) and tumors. The photo‐crosslinkable gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) polymer was used as a physical barrier in the microfluidic device and collagen type I gel was employed to culture NSCs in a 3D manner. We demonstrated that the pore size was inversely proportional to concentrations of GelMA hydrogels, showing the pore sizes of 5 and 25 w/v% GelMA hydrogels were 34 and 4 μm, respectively. It also revealed that the morphology of pores in 5 w/v% GelMA hydrogels was elliptical shape, whereas we observed circular‐shaped pores in 25 w/v% GelMA hydrogels. To culture NSCs and tumors in the 3D microfluidic device, we investigated the molecular diffusion properties across GelMA hydrogels, indicating that 25 w/v% GelMA hydrogels inhibited the molecular diffusion for 6 days in the 3D microfluidic device. In contrast, the chemicals were diffused in 5 w/v% GelMA hydrogels. Finally, we cultured NSCs and tumors in the hydrogel‐based 3D microfluidic device, showing that 53–75% NSCs differentiated into neurons, while tumors were cultured in the collagen gels. Therefore, this photo‐crosslinkable hydrogel‐based 3D microfluidic culture device could be a potentially powerful tool for regenerative tissue engineering applications.     

Precisely Controlled Delivery of Abaloparatide through Injectable Hydrogel to Promote Bone Regeneration

Side‐effects from allograft, limited bone stock, and site morbidity from autograft are the major challenges to traditional bone defect treatments. With the advance of tissue engineering, hydrogel injection therapy is introduced as an alternative treatment. Therapeutic drugs and growth factors can be carried by hydrogels and delivered to patients. Abaloparatide, as an analog of human recombinant parathyroid hormone protein (PTHrp) and an alternative to teriparatide, has been considered as a drug for treating postmenopausal osteoporosis since 2017. Since only limited cases of receiving abaloparatide with polymeric scaffolds have been reported, the effects of abaloparatide on pre‐osteoblast MC3T3‐E1 are investigated in this study. It is found that in vitro abaloparatide treatment can promote pre‐osteoblast MC3T3‐E1 cells’ viability, differentiation, and mineralization significantly. For the drug delivery system, 3D porous structure of the methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) hydrogel is found effective for prolonging the release of abaloparatide (more than 10 days). Therefore, injectable photo‐crosslinked GelMA hydrogel is used in this study to prolong the release of abaloparatide and to promote healing of defected bones in rats. Overall, data collected in this study show no contradiction and imply that Abaloparatide‐loaded GelMA hydrogel is effective in stimulating bone regeneration.     

Hydrogel microfluidic co‐culture device for photothermal therapy and cancer migration

We developed the photo‐crosslinkable hydrogel microfluidic co‐culture device to study photothermal therapy and cancer cell migration. To culture MCF7 human breast carcinoma cells and metastatic U87MG human glioblastoma in the microfluidic device, we used 10 w/v% gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) hydrogels as a semi‐permeable physical barrier. We demonstrated the effect of gold nanorod on photothermal therapy of cancer cells in the microfluidic co‐culture device. Interestingly, we observed that metastatic U87MG human glioblastoma largely migrated toward vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)‐treated GelMA hydrogel‐embedding microchannels. The main advantage of this hydrogel microfluidic co‐culture device is to simultaneously analyze the physiological migration behaviors of two cancer cells with different physiochemical motilities and study gold nanorod‐mediated photothermal therapy effect. Therefore, this hydrogel microfluidic co‐culture device could be a potentially powerful tool for photothermal therapy and cancer cell migration applications.     

Sonochemical Degradation of Gelatin Methacryloyl to Control Viscoelasticity for Inkjet Bioprinting

Inkjet printing enables the mimicry of the microenvironment of natural complex tissues by patterning cells and hydrogels at a high resolution. However, the polymer content of an inkjet-printable bioink is limited as it leads to strong viscoelasticity in the inkjet nozzle. Here it is demonstrated that sonochemical treatment controls the viscoelasticity of a gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) based bioink by shortening the length of polymer chains without causing chemical destruction of the methacryloyl groups. The rheological properties of treated GelMA inks are evaluated by a piezo-axial vibrator over a wide range of frequencies between 10 and 10 000 Hz. This approach enables to effectively increase the maximum printable polymer concentration from 3% to 10%. Then it is studied how the sonochemical treatment effectively controls the microstructure and mechanical properties of GelMA hydrogel constructs after crosslinking while maintaining its fluid properties within the printable range. The control of mechanical properties of GelMA hydrogels can lead fibroblasts more spreading on the hydrogels. A 3D cell-laden multilayered hydrogel constructs containing layers with different physical properties is fabrictated by using high-resolution inkjet printing. The sonochemical treatment delivers a new path to inkjet bioprinting to build microarchitectures with various physical properties by expanding the range of applicable bioinks.     

pH and reduction dual‐stimuli‐responsive PEGDA/PAMAM injectable network hydrogels via aza‐michael addition for anticancer drug delivery

A pH and reduction dual‐stimuli‐responsive PEGDA/PAMAM injectable network hydrogel containing “acetals” as pH‐sensitive groups and “disulfides” as reducible linkages was designed and synthesized via aza‐Michael addition reaction between PAMAM and PEGDA diacrylates. The pore size and swelling ratio of hydrogels was varied from 14 ± 3 to 19 ± 4 μm and 214 ± 13 to 300 ± 19 μm, respectively, with varying ethylene glycol repeating units in diacrylates. The swelling ratio of PEGDA/PAMAM network hydrogel increased with increase in the molecular weight of PEG and with decrease in pH. The presence of different cationizable amino‐functionalities in PEGDA/PAMAM network hydrogel helped to enhance the swelling ability of hydrogel under the acidic conditions. The continuous increase in metabolically active live HeLa cells with time in MTT assay implied biocompatibility/noncytotoxicity of the synthesized PEGDA/PAMAM injectable network hydrogel. Furthermore, the prepared PEGDA/PAMAM hydrogel showed higher degradation at lower pH and at higher concentration of DTT. The burst release of doxorubicin from PEGDA/PAMAM hydrogel under the environment of the lower pH and in presence of DTT compared to the release at normal physiological pH and in absence of DTT suggested the potential ability of this model hydrogel system for targeted and selective anticancer drug release at tumor tissues. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 2080–2095     

Ionically Modified Gelatin Hydrogels Maintain Murine Myogenic Cell Viability and Fusion Capacity

For tissue engineering of skeletal muscles, there is a need for biomaterials which do not only allow cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation, but also support the physiological conditions of the tissue. Next to the chemical nature and structure of the biomaterial, its response to the application of biophysical stimuli, such as mechanical deformation or application of electrical pulses, can impact in vitro tissue culture. In this study, gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) is modified with hydrophilic 2-acryloxyethyltrimethylammonium chloride (AETA) and 3-sulfopropyl acrylate potassium (SPA) ionic comonomers to obtain a piezoionic hydrogel. Rheology, mass swelling, gel fraction, and mechanical characteristics are determined. The piezoionic properties of the SPA and AETA-modified GelMA are confirmed by a significant increase in ionic conductivity and an electrical response as a function of mechanical stress. Murine myoblasts display a viability of >95% after 1 week on the piezoionic hydrogels, confirming their biocompatibility. The GelMA modifications do not influence the fusion capacity of the seeded myoblasts or myotube width after myotube formation. These results describe a novel functionalization providing new possibilities to exploit piezo-effects in the tissue engineering field.     

Bottom-up approach to build osteon-like structure by cell-laden photocrosslinkable hydrogel

Based on photocrosslinkable PEGDMA and GelMA hydrogels, two "bottom-up" approaches ("circle-and-cross" and "layer-by-layer") were successfully developed to construct osteon-like structures with microchannel networks. Significantly, the "layer-by-layer" approach employing the GelMA hydrogel with a higher biocompatibility was more favorable for building biomimetic osteon.     

Fabrication and Manipulation of Magnetic Composite Particles with Specific Shape and Size

The fabrication of microscale polyethylene glycol diacrylate(PEGDA) hydrogel particles was demonstrated via magnetic property ultraviolet(UV) lithography techniques, polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS) soft stamp pre-paration techniques and micro-nano imprint technology in this paper. The results of compositional and morphological characterizations of magnetic microparticles show that the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with an average diameter of 100 nm are uniformly dispersed in hydrogel. Owing to the excellent magnetism of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, the fabricated hydrogel microparticles with different sizes and shapes were manipulated in water via applying an external magnetic fields. Three types of motions, translation, rotation and flip, were demonstrated with the manipulator. These microscale magnetic PEGDA hydrogel particles have a great application potential in manufacturing process, micro/nanomotors, and machines.     

Alginate/Polyoxyethylene and Alginate/Gelatin Hydrogels: Preparation,Characterization, and Application in Tissue Engineering

Hydrogels are attractive biomaterials for three-dimensional cell culture and tissue engineering applications. The preparation of hydrogels using alginate and gelatin provides cross-linked hydrophilic polymers that can swell but do not dissolve in water. In this work, we first reinforced pure alginate by using polyoxyethylene as a supporting material. In an alginate/PEO sample that contains 20 % polyoxyethylene, we obtained a stable hydrogel for cell culture experiments. We also prepared a stable alginate/gelatin hydrogel by cross-linking a periodate-oxidized alginate with another functional component such as gelatin. The hydrogels were found to have a high fluid uptake. In this work, preparation, characterization, swelling, and surface properties of these scaffold materials were described. Lyophilized scaffolds obtained from hydrogels were used for cell viability experiments, and the results were presented in detail.