Design and Synthesis of Chitosan-Gelatin Hybrid Hydrogels for 3D Printable in vitro Models

Sofia Magli; Giulia Beatrice Rossi; Giulia Risi; Sabrina Bertini; Cesare Cosentino; Luca Crippa; Elisa Ballarini; Guido Cavaletti; Laura Piazza; Elisa Masseroni; Francesco Nicotra; Laura Russo

doi:10.3389/fchem.2020.00524

Design and Synthesis of Chitosan-Gelatin Hybrid Hydrogels for 3D Printable in vitro Models

Front Chem. 2020 Jul 14:8:524. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2020.00524. eCollection 2020.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
² G. Ronzoni Institute for Chemical and Biochemical Research, Milan, Italy.
³ Department of Medical and Surgical Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
⁴ Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), University of Milan, Milan, Italy.

Abstract

The development of 3D printable hydrogels based on the crosslinking between chitosan and gelatin is proposed. Chitosan and gelatin were both functionalized with methyl furan groups. Chemical modification was performed by reductive amination with methyl furfural involving the lysine residues of gelatin and the amino groups of chitosan to generate hydrogels with tailored properties. The methyl furan residues present in both polymers were exploited for efficient crosslinking via Diels-Alder ligation with PEG-Star-maleimide under cell-compatible conditions. The obtained chitosan-gelatin hybrid was employed to formulate hydrogels and 3D printable biopolymers and its processability and biocompatibility were preliminarily investigated.

Keywords: 3D bioprinting; 3D cultures; Diels-Alder click reaction; click chemistry for 3D cellular models; functionalization strategies; glycopolymers; hybrid hydrogels.