Gamma-ray irradiation of novel hydrogels was used to develop a biocompatible hydrogel system for skin tissue engineering. These novel hydrogels are composed of natural polymers including hyaluronic acid (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS), and the synthetic polymer, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The γ-ray irradiation method has advantages, such as relatively simple manipulation without need of any extra reagents for polymerization and cross-linking. We synthesized HA and CS derivatives with polymerizable residues. The HA/CS/PVA hydrogels with various compositions were prepared by using γ-ray irradiation technique and their physicochemical properties were investigated to evaluate the feasibility of their use as artificial skin substitutes. HA/CS/PVA hydrogels showed an 85-88% degree of gelation under 15 kGy radiation. All HA/CS/PVA hydrogels exhibited more than 90% water content and reached an equilibrium swelling state within 24h. Hydrogels with higher concentrations of hyaluronidase solution and HA/CS content had proportionally higher enzymatic degradation rates. The drug release behaviors from HA/CS/PVA hydrogels were influenced by the composition of the hydrogel and drug properties. Exposure of human keratinocyte (HaCaT) culture to the extracts of HA/CS/PVA hydrogels did not significantly affect the cell viability. All HaCaT cell cultures exposed to the extracts of HA/CS/PVA hydrogels exhibited greater than 92% cell viability. The HaCaT growth in HA/CS/PVA hydrogels gradually increased as a function of culture time. After 7 days, the HaCaT cells in all HA/CA/PVA hydrogels exhibited more than 80% viability compared to the control group HaCaT culture on a culture plate.
Keywords: Chondroitin sulfate; Hyaluronic acid; Hydrogel; γ-Ray irradiation.
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