Engineering Tough, Injectable, Naturally Derived, Bioadhesive Composite Hydrogels

Maryam Tavafoghi; Amir Sheikhi; Rumeysa Tutar; Jamileh Jahangiry; Avijit Baidya; Reihaneh Haghniaz; Ali Khademhosseini

doi:10.1002/adhm.201901722

Engineering Tough, Injectable, Naturally Derived, Bioadhesive Composite Hydrogels

Adv Healthc Mater. 2020 May;9(10):e1901722. doi: 10.1002/adhm.201901722. Epub 2020 Apr 24.

Authors

Maryam Tavafoghi^{1

2

3}, Amir Sheikhi^{1

2

3

4

5}, Rumeysa Tutar^{1

2

3

6}, Jamileh Jahangiry^{1

2

3}, Avijit Baidya^{1

2

3}, Reihaneh Haghniaz^{1

2

3}, Ali Khademhosseini^{1

2

3

7

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 410 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
² Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), University of California, Los Angeles, 570 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
³ California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), University of California, Los Angeles, 570 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Avcılar, Istanbul, 34320, Turkey.
⁷ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 5531 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
⁸ Department of Radiological Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
⁹ Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Centre, University of California, Los Angeles, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.

Abstract

Engineering mechanically robust bioadhesive hydrogels that can withstand large strains may open new opportunities for the sutureless sealing of highly stretchable tissues. While typical chemical modifications of hydrogels, such as increasing the functional group density of crosslinkable moieties and blending them with other polymers or nanomaterials have resulted in improved mechanical stiffness, the modified hydrogels have often exhibited increased brittleness resulting in deteriorated sealing capabilities under large strains. Furthermore, highly elastic hydrogels, such as tropoelastin derivatives are highly expensive. Here, gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) is hybridized with methacrylate-modified alginate (AlgMA) to enable ion-induced reversible crosslinking that can dissipate energy under strain. The hybrid hydrogels provide a photocrosslinkable, injectable, and bioadhesive platform with an excellent toughness that can be tailored using divalent cations, such as calcium. This class of hybrid biopolymers with more than 600% improved toughness compared to GelMA may set the stage for durable, mechanically resilient, and cost-effective tissue sealants. This strategy to increase the toughness of hydrogels may be extended to other crosslinkable polymers with similarly reactive moieties.

Keywords: alginate; anastomosis; bladder injury; gelatin methacryloyl; sutureless tissue sealing; tough hydrogels.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Gelatin
Hydrogels*
Methacrylates
Tissue Engineering*
Tropoelastin

Substances

Hydrogels
Methacrylates
Tropoelastin
Gelatin

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding