Authors:
Sidi A Bencherif, Abiraman Srinivasan, Angela Jiang, Jeffrey O Hollinger, Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, and Newell R Washburn
Summary:
In this work, biologically active and degradable hyaluronic acid was used to prepare flexible hydrogels with various degrees of cross-links to tune gel degradation rate. RGD-modified hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels promoted cell proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization of preosteoblast MC3T3-E4 cells within 4 weeks of incubation when cultured in osteogenic media (OS+). An investigation into degradation profiles of these gels has shown that highly cross-linked hydrogels were more suitable to allow mineralization of cells as they degraded after a month when incubated in enzymatic solutions. The objective is to design a cell-adhesive scaffold with tunable degradation profiles that would balance the need to maintain structural support for cellular proliferation, extracellular matrix (ECM) secretion, and mineralization in response to HA-based hydrogels, with the need for polymer disintegration to leave room for new tissue growth.
Source:
The 236th American Chemical Society National Meeting; Philadelphia, PA, Liberty Ballroom B, Oral, 1:30 PM-5:05 PM (08/17/08)