PVA/pectin composite hydrogels inducing osteogenesis for bone regeneration

Ziwei Hu; Jianwen Cheng; Sheng Xu; Xiaojing Cheng; Jinmin Zhao; Zhi Wei Kenny Low; Pei Lin Chee; Zhenhui Lu; Li Zheng; Dan Kai

doi:10.1016/j.mtbio.2022.100431

PVA/pectin composite hydrogels inducing osteogenesis for bone regeneration

Mater Today Bio. 2022 Sep 15:16:100431. doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2022.100431. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Authors

Ziwei Hu^{1

2

3

4}, Jianwen Cheng^{1

2

3

4

5}, Sheng Xu^{1

2

3

4

6}, Xiaojing Cheng^{1

2

3

4

7}, Jinmin Zhao^{1

2

3

4

5}, Zhi Wei Kenny Low⁸, Pei Lin Chee⁸, Zhenhui Lu^{1

2

3

4}, Li Zheng^{1

2

3

4}, Dan Kai^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Guangxi Engineering Center in Biomedical Material for Tissue and Organ Regeneration, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.
² Collaborative Innovation Centre of Regenerative Medicine and Medical BioResource Development and Application Co-constructed By the Province and Ministry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.
³ Research Center for Regenerative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.
⁴ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Regenerative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.
⁵ Department of Orthopaedics Trauma and Hand Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.
⁶ School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.
⁷ Life Science Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.
⁸ Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), A∗STAR, 2 Fusionopolis Way, #08-03 Innovis, 138634, Singapore.
⁹ Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment (ISCE2), A∗STAR, 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis, #08-03, 138634, Singapore.

Abstract

Hydrogels composed from biomolecules have gained great interests as biomaterials for tissue engineering. However, their poor mechanical properties limit their application potential. Here, we synthesized a series of tough composite hydrogels from poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and pectin for bone tissue engineering. With a balance of scaffold stiffness and pore size, PVA-Pec-10 hydrogel enhanced adhesion and proliferation of osteoblasts. The hydrogel significantly promoted osteogenesis in vitro by improving the alkaline phosphates (ALP) activity and calcium biomineralization, as well as upregulating the expressions of osteoblastic genes. The composite hydrogel also accelerated the bone healing process in vivo after transplantation into the femoral defect. Additionally, our study demonstrated that pectin and its Ca²⁺ crosslinking network play a crucial role of inducing osteogenesis through regulating the Ca²⁺/CaMKII and BMP-SMAD1/5 signaling. The optimized structure composition and multifunctional properties make PVA-Pec hydrogel highly promising to serve as a candidate for bone tissue regeneration.

Keywords: Composite hydrogel; Osteogenesis; Pectin; Poly (vinyl alcohol); Tissue engineering.