Fabrication of versatile dynamic hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels

Wen Shi; Blake Hass; Mitchell A Kuss; Haipeng Zhang; Sangjin Ryu; Dongze Zhang; Tieshi Li; Yu-Long Li; Bin Duan

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115803

Fabrication of versatile dynamic hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels

Carbohydr Polym. 2020 Apr 1:233:115803. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115803. Epub 2020 Jan 2.

Authors

Wen Shi¹, Blake Hass², Mitchell A Kuss¹, Haipeng Zhang³, Sangjin Ryu⁴, Dongze Zhang⁵, Tieshi Li⁶, Yu-Long Li⁵, Bin Duan⁷

Affiliations

¹ Mary & Dick Holland Regenerative Medicine Program, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA; Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
² College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
⁵ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
⁷ Mary & Dick Holland Regenerative Medicine Program, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA; Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA; Department of Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 32059877
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115803

Abstract

In this study, an injectable and self-healing hydrogel based on the boronic ester dynamic covalent bond between phenylboronic acid modified hyaluronic acid (HA-PBA) and the commercially available poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is prepared and should have multi-functions for biomedical applications. The hydrogels were rapidly formed under mild conditions, and the rheological properties and in vitro degradation were systematically characterized. The HA-based hydrogels possessed good injectability and self-healing properties because of the dynamic bond. Moreover, due to the sensitivity of boronic ester to the biologically relevant concentration of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), a major reactive oxygen species (ROS), the injectable hydrogel could be used as a H₂O₂/ROS responsive drug delivery system. The hydrogels supported good viability of encapsulated neural progenitor cells (NPC) and protected NPC from ROS induced damage in vitro when H₂O₂ was present in the media. The dynamic hydrogels were further applied as bio-inks for 3D printing/bioprinting. Overall, this facilely prepared dynamic hydrogel based on HA-PBA and PVA may have many potential biomedical applications, including drug delivery, 3D culture of cells, and 3D bioprinting.

Keywords: 3D printing; Anti-oxidative; Boronic acid ester; Dynamic hydrogel; Hyaluronic acid; ROS responsive drug delivery; Self-healing.