Dynamic mechanical control of alginate-fibronectin hydrogels with dual crosslinking: covalent and ionic

Trujillo, S. , Seow, M., Lueckgen, A., Salmeron-Sanchez, M. and Cipitria, A. (2021) Dynamic mechanical control of alginate-fibronectin hydrogels with dual crosslinking: covalent and ionic. Polymers, 13(3), 433. (doi: 10.3390/polym13030433) (PMID:33573020) (PMCID:PMC7866402)

Abstract

Alginate is a polysaccharide used extensively in biomedical applications due to its biocompatibility and suitability for hydrogel fabrication using mild reaction chemistries. Though alginate has commonly been crosslinked using divalent cations, covalent crosslinking chemistries have also been developed. Hydrogels with tuneable mechanical properties are required for many biomedical applications to mimic the stiffness of different tissues. Here, we present a strategy to engineer alginate hydrogels with tuneable mechanical properties by covalent crosslinking of a norbornene-modified alginate using ultraviolet (UV)-initiated thiol-ene chemistry. We also demonstrate that the system can be functionalised with cues such as full-length fibronectin and protease-degradable sequences. Finally, we take advantage of alginate’s ability to be crosslinked covalently and ionically to design dual crosslinked constructs enabling dynamic control of mechanical properties, with gels that undergo cycles of stiffening−softening by adding and quenching calcium cations. Overall, we present a versatile hydrogel with tuneable and dynamic mechanical properties, and incorporate cell-interactive features such as cell-mediated protease-induced degradability and full-length proteins, which may find applications in a variety of biomedical contexts.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) grant CI 203/1-2, DFG Emmy Noether grant (CI 203/2-1) and the Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies (BSRT) Extension grant. This work was also supported by an EPSRC Program Grant (EP/P001114/1) and from the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform “Acellular / Smart Materials–3D Architecture” (MR/R015651/1). This research was also supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) through the PID2019-106000RB-C21 / AEI / 10.13039 / 501100011033 project (including the FEDER funds). The article processing charge was funded by the Max Planck Society.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Salmeron-Sanchez, Professor Manuel and Trujillo Munoz, Dr Sara

Creator Roles

Trujillo, S.: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Salmeron-Sanchez, M.: Conceptualization, Resources, Writing – review and editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition

• Authors: Trujillo, S., Seow, M., Lueckgen, A., Salmeron-Sanchez, M., and Cipitria, A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering
• Journal Name: Polymers
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2073-4360
• ISSN (Online): 2073-4360
• Published Online: 29 January 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First Published in Polymers 13(3):433
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
• Data DOI: 10.17617/3.5k

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
173192		Engineering growth factor microenvironments- a new therapeutic paradigm for regenerative medicine	Manuel Salmeron-Sanchez	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/P001114/1	ENG - Biomedical Engineering