Injectable and fast self-healing protein hydrogels

Soft Matter. 2019 Oct 14;15(38):7583-7589. doi: 10.1039/c9sm01543d. Epub 2019 Aug 29.

Abstract

Injectable hydrogels are adapted to irregularities in the desired location by injection as a liquid and gelation in situ. However, traditional slow-gelling injectable hydrogels may result in loss of cargo (cells/drugs) as well as diffusion at the target site, and extremely rapid gelation may lead to undesired premature coagulation. These practical problems can be solved by using self-healing hydrogels. Herein, through the reduction of disulfide bonds in BSA protein by using a reducing agent, the disulfide bonds between the individual BSA protein molecules are re-matched to form a network structure, thereby forming a protein hydrogel. This hydrogel shows an efficient and rapid self-healing property, and the broken protein hydrogel can be fast repaired within 1-2 minutes in response to H2O2 stimulation, and the repair efficiency reached up to 100%. The hydrogel can be extruded using only a pinhole syringe, and cytotoxicity experiments have demonstrated excellent biocompatibility of the protein hydrogel. This non-toxic, injectable, fast self-healing protein hydrogel is expected to be widely used in biomedical, tissue engineering, injectable gel, 3D bioprinting, and other applications.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biocompatible Materials / chemistry*
  • Cattle
  • Cell Survival
  • Humans
  • Hydrogels / chemistry*
  • Hydrogen Peroxide / metabolism
  • Injections
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Rheology
  • Serum Albumin, Bovine / chemistry*
  • Tensile Strength

Substances

  • Biocompatible Materials
  • Hydrogels
  • Serum Albumin, Bovine
  • Hydrogen Peroxide