1. SEMM, European School of Molecular Medicine, Milano, Italy;2. Fondazione Filarete per le Bioscienze e l'Innovazione, Milan, Italy;3. Tensive s.r.l., Milan, Italy;4. Materials Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, Greater Manchester, UK;5. Guy Hilton Research Centre, Institute of Science and Technology in Medicine, University of Keele, Stoke‐on‐Trent, Staffordshire, UK;6. Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK;7. CIMAINA, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
Abstract:
This study presents a custom‐made in situ gelling polymeric precursor for cell encapsulation. Composed of poly((2‐hydroxyethyl)methacrylate‐co‐(3‐aminopropyl)methacrylamide) (P(HEMA‐co‐APM) mother backbone and RGD‐mimicking poly(amidoamine) (PAA) moiteis, the comb‐like structured polymeric precursor is tailored to gather the advantages of the two families of synthetic polymers, i.e., the good mechanical integrity of PHEMA‐based polymers and the biocompatibility and biodegradability of PAAs. The role of P(HEMA‐co‐APM) in the regulation of the chemico‐physical properties of P(HEMA‐co‐APM)/PAA hydrogels is thoroughly investigated. On the basis of obtained results, namely the capability of maintaining vital NIH3T3 cell line in vitro for 2 d in a 3D cell culture, the in vivo biocompatibility in murine model for 16 d, and the ability of finely tuning mechanical properties and degradation kinetics, it can be assessed that P(HEMA‐co‐APM)/PAAs offer a cost‐effective valid alternative to the so far studied natural polymer‐based systems for cell encapsulation.
