Novel hybrid hydrogels with tunable properties by incorporating polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based hydrogels for tissue engineering

Abstract

Statement of Purpose: Hydrogels have potential in many biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering and drug delivery system.1 Among those, hyaluronic acid (HA) has been extensively studied for tissue engineering applications such as cartilage tissue engineering, partly because they are involved in cellular processes such as proliferation, morphogenesis, and wound repair. Synthetic hydrogels such as poly-NIPAM have also been popular choice for tissue engineering mainly due their thermo-sensitive properties. However, both hydrogels alone have their own limitations such as difficulties of controlling physical properties and degradation properties. Recently, biodegradable polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based hydrogels were developed, which can be useful in tissue engineering application.2 In this study, novel hybrid hydrogels were developed by combining HA or NIPAM with biodegradable PEG based polymers via free radical polymerization and their physicochemical properties were evaluated. © 2019 Omnipress - All rights reserved.