Bioactive polyacrylamide hydrogels with gradients in mechanical stiffness

Designing Superlubricious Hydrogels from Spontaneous Peroxidation Gradients

Hydrogels are hydrated three-dimensional networks of hydrophilic polymers that are commonly used in the biomedical industry due to their mechanical and structural tunability, biocompatibility, and similar water content to biological tissues. The surface structure of hydrogels polymerized through free-radical polymerization can be modified by controlling environmental oxygen concentrations, leading to the formation of a polymer concentration gradient. In this work, 17.5 wt % polyacrylamide hydrogels are polymerized in low (0.01 mol % O2) and high (20 mol % O2) oxygen environments, and their mechanical and tribological properties are characterized through microindentation, nanoindentation, and tribological sliding experiments. Without significantly reducing the elastic modulus of the hydrogel (E* ≈ 200 kPa), we demonstrate an order of magnitude reduction in friction coefficient (from μ = 0.021 ± 0.006 to μ = 0.002 ± 0.001) by adjusting polymerization conditions (e.g., oxygen concentration). A quantitative analytical model based on polyacrylamide chemistry and kinetics was developed to estimate the thickness and structure of the monomer conversion gradient, termed the "surface gel layer". We find that polymerizing hydrogels at high oxygen concentrations leads to the formation of a preswollen surface gel layer that is approximately five times thicker (t ≈ 50 μm) and four times less concentrated (≈ 6% monomer conversion) at the surface prior to swelling compared to low oxygen environments (t ≈ 10 μm, ≈ 20% monomer conversion). Our model could be readily modified to predict the preswollen concentration profile of the polyacrylamide gel surface layer for any reaction conditions─monomer and initiator concentration, oxygen concentration, reaction time, and reaction media depth─or used to select conditions that correspond to a certain desired surface gel layer profile.

Progress in the mechanical modulation of cell functions in tissue engineering

In mammals, mechanics at multiple stages-nucleus to cell to ECM-underlie multiple physiological and pathological functions from its development to reproduction to death. Under this inspiration, substantial research has established the role of multiple aspects of mechanics in regulating fundamental cellular processes, including spreading, migration, growth, proliferation, and differentiation. However, our understanding of how these mechanical mechanisms are orchestrated or tuned at different stages to maintain or restore the healthy environment at the tissue or organ level remains largely a mystery. Over the past few decades, research in the mechanical manipulation of the surrounding environment-known as substrate or matrix or scaffold on which, or within which, cells are seeded-has been exceptionally enriched in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. To do so, traditional tissue engineering aims at recapitulating key mechanical milestones of native ECM into a substrate for guiding the cell fate and functions towards specific tissue regeneration. Despite tremendous progress, a big puzzle that remains is how the cells compute a host of mechanical cues, such as stiffness (elasticity), viscoelasticity, plasticity, non-linear elasticity, anisotropy, mechanical forces, and mechanical memory, into many biological functions in a cooperative, controlled, and safe manner. High throughput understanding of key cellular decisions as well as associated mechanosensitive downstream signaling pathway(s) for executing these decisions in response to mechanical cues, solo or combined, is essential to address this issue. While many reports have been made towards the progress and understanding of mechanical cues-particularly, substrate bulk stiffness and viscoelasticity-in regulating the cellular responses, a complete picture of mechanical cues is lacking. This review highlights a comprehensive view on the mechanical cues that are linked to modulate many cellular functions and consequent tissue functionality. For a very basic understanding, a brief discussion of the key mechanical players of ECM and the principle of mechanotransduction process is outlined. In addition, this review gathers together the most important data on the stiffness of various cells and ECM components as well as various tissues/organs and proposes an associated link from the mechanical perspective that is not yet reported. Finally, beyond addressing the challenges involved in tuning the interplaying mechanical cues in an independent manner, emerging advances in designing biomaterials for tissue engineering are also explored.

Reaction Rate Governs the Viscoelasticity and Nanostructure of Folded Protein Hydrogels

Hydrogels constructed from folded protein domains are of increasing interest as resilient and responsive biomaterials, but their optimization for applications requires time-consuming and costly molecular design. Here, we explore a complementary approach to control their properties by examining the influence of crosslinking rate on the structure and viscoelastic response of a model hydrogel constructed from photochemically crosslinked bovine serum albumin (BSA). Gelation is observed to follow a heterogeneous nucleation pathway in which BSA monomers crosslink into compact nuclei that grow into fractal percolated networks. Both the viscoelastic response probed by shear rheology and the nanostructure probed by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) are shown to depend on the photochemical crosslinking reaction rate, with increased reaction rates corresponding to higher viscoelastic moduli, lower fractal dimension, and higher fractal cluster size. Reaction rate-dependent changes are shown to be consistent with a transition between diffusion- and rate-limited assembly, and the corresponding changes to viscoelastic response are proposed to arise from the presence of nonfractal depletion regions, as confirmed by SAXS. This controllable nanostructure and viscoelasticity constitute a potential route for the precise control of hydrogel properties, without the need for molecular modification.

Efficient Polymer Pendant Approach toward High Stable Organic Fluorophore for Sensing Ultratrace Hg2+ with Improved Biological Compatibility and Cell Permeability

A convenient and efficient method to eliminate the aggregation effect of organic photoelectric sensing materials and to improve biological compatibility and cell permeability as well was developed by hanging organic fluorophores on a polymer chain, for example, fluorescein fluorophores had been controllably hung on polyacrylamide main chains with a 1:2 stoichiometric ratio by a simple copolymerization strategy. The results showed that introduction of water-soluble bioactive polyacrylamide main chains into fluorescein fluorophores via covalent bonds could effectively improve their optical stability by deteriorating π-π stack and charge-transfer interactions among different fluorophores. More importantly, the resultant materials possessed low toxicity and excellent cell permeability ten times larger than their precursor fluorescein fluorophore, which made it express an especially turn-on fluorescent response to ultratrace Hg²⁺ both in aqueous and living cells by forming stable 5-member-ring complexes with Hg²⁺ with a correlation coefficient of 0.997 and a low detection limit of 4.0 × 10^-10 mol·L^-1. This work provides promising insight into constructing some practical sensing materials for environmentally-friendly biological analyses.

The physical microenvironment of hematopoietic stem cells and its emerging roles in engineering applications

Stem cells are considered the fundamental underpinnings of tissue biology. The stem cell microenvironment provides factors and elements that play significant roles in controlling the cell fate direction. The bone marrow is an important environment for functional hematopoietic stem cells in adults. Remarkable progress has been achieved in the area of hematopoietic stem cell fate modulation based on the recognition of biochemical factors provided by bone marrow niches. In this review, we focus on emerging evidence that hematopoietic stem cell fate is altered in response to a variety of microenvironmental physical cues, such as geometric properties, matrix stiffness, and mechanical forces. Based on knowledge of these biophysical cues, recent developments in harnessing hematopoietic stem cell niches ex vivo are also discussed. A comprehensive understanding of cell microenvironments helps provide mechanistic insights into pathophysiological mechanisms and underlies biomaterial-based hematopoietic stem cell engineering.

Predicting Ligand-Free Cell Attachment on Next-Generation Cellulose-Chitosan Hydrogels

There is a growing appreciation that engineered biointerfaces can regulate cell behaviors, or functions. Most systems aim to mimic the cell-friendly extracellular matrix environment and incorporate protein ligands; however, the understanding of how a ligand-free system can achieve this is limited. Cell scaffold materials comprised of interfused chitosan-cellulose hydrogels promote cell attachment in ligand-free systems, and we demonstrate the role of cellulose molecular weight, MW, and chitosan content and MW in controlling material properties and thus regulating cell attachment. Semi-interpenetrating network (SIPN) gels, generated from cellulose/ionic liquid/cosolvent solutions, using chitosan solutions as phase inversion solvents, were stable and obviated the need for chemical coupling. Interface properties, including surface zeta-potential, dielectric constant, surface roughness, and shear modulus, were modified by varying the chitosan degree of polymerization and solution concentration, as well as the source of cellulose, creating a family of cellulose-chitosan SIPN materials. These features, in turn, affect cell attachment onto the hydrogels and the utility of this ligand-free approach is extended by forecasting cell attachment using regression modeling to isolate the effects of individual parameters in an initially complex system. We demonstrate that increasing the charge density, and/or shear modulus, of the hydrogel results in increased cell attachment.

Incorporation of well-dispersed calcium phosphate nanoparticles into PLGA electrospun nanofibers to enhance the osteogenic induction potential

PAA modified Zn-doped HAp-like calcium phosphate (PAA-CaP/Zn) nanoparticles were homogeneously distributed in PLGA electrospun nanofibers, and enhanced the osteogenic differentiation of rADSCs.

Bioinspired Mechanical Gradients in Cellulose Nanofibril/Polymer Nanopapers

Mechanical gradients are important as tough joints, for strain field engineering in printable electronics, for actuators, and for biological studies, yet they are difficult to prepare and quantitatively characterize. We demonstrate the additive fabrication of gradient bioinspired nanocomposites based on stiff, renewable cellulose nanofibrils that are bottom-up toughened via a tailor-made copolymer. Direct filament writing of different nanocomposite hydrogels in patterns, and subsequent healing of the filaments into continuous films while drying leads to a variety of linear, parabolic and striped bulk gradients. In situ digital image correlation under tensile deformation reveals important differences in the strain fields regarding asymmetry and step heights of the patterns. We envisage that merging top-down and bottom-up structuring of nanocellulose hybrids opens avenues for aperiodic and multiscale, bioinspired nanocomposites with optimized combinations of stiffness and toughness.

Synthetic hydrogels with stiffness gradients for durotaxis study and tissue engineering scaffolds

Migration of cells along the right direction is of paramount importance in a number of in vivo circumstances such as immune response, embryonic developments, morphogenesis, and healing of wounds and scars. While it has been known for a while that spatial gradients in chemical cues guide the direction of cell migration, the significance of the gradient in mechanical cues, such as stiffness of extracellular matrices (ECMs), in directed migration of cells has only recently emerged. With advances in synthetic chemistry, micro-fabrication techniques, and methods to characterize mechanical properties at a length scale even smaller than a single cell, synthetic ECMs with spatially controlled stiffness have been created with variations in design parameters. Since then, the synthetic ECMs have served as platforms to study the migratory behaviors of cells in the presence of the stiffness gradient of ECM and also as scaffolds for the regeneration of tissues. In this review, we highlight recent studies in cell migration directed by the stiffness gradient, called durotaxis, and discuss the mechanisms of durotaxis. We also summarize general methods and design principles to create synthetic ECMs with the stiffness gradients and, finally, conclude by discussing current limitations and future directions of synthetic ECMs for the study of durotaxis and the scaffold for tissue engineering.

Kinetic models for the dynamical behavior of polyacrylamide (PAAm)-κ-carrageenan (κC) composite gels

A fluorescence method was employed for studying the drying and swelling of PAAm-κC composite gels, which were formed from acrylamide (AAm) and N, N'- methylenebisacrylamide (BIS) with various κ-carrageenan (κC) contents by free radical crosslinking copolymerization in water. Composite gels were prepared at 80 °C with pyranine (Py) as a fluorescence probe. Scattered light, I sc, and fluorescence emission intensities, I em, were monitored during drying and swelling of these gels. The fluorescence intensity of pyranine increased and decreased as drying and swelling time are increased, respectively, for all gel samples. The Stern-Volmer equation combined with moving boundary and Li-Tanaka models were used to explain the behavior of I em during drying and swelling processes respectively. It is found that the desorption coefficient D d decreased as κC contents were increased for a given temperature during drying. However, the cooperative diffusion coefficient, D s presented exactly the opposite case. Conventional gravimetrical and volumetric experiments were also carried out during drying and swelling of PAAm-κC composite gels. It was observed that D d and D s values measured with the fluorescence method were found to be much larger than they were measured with the conventional methods.

The calcium silicate/alginate composite: preparation and evaluation of its behavior as bioactive injectable hydrogels

In this study, an injectable calcium silicate (CS)/sodium alginate (SA) hybrid hydrogel was prepared using a novel material composition design. CS was incorporated into an alginate solution and internal in situ gelling was induced by the calcium ions directly released from CS with the addition of d-gluconic acid δ-lactone (GDL). The gelling time could be controlled, from about 30s to 10 min, by varying the amounts of CS and GDL added. The mechanical properties of the hydrogels with different amounts of CS and GDL were systematically analyzed. The compressive strength of 5% CS/SA hydrogels was higher than that of 10% CS/SA for the same amount of GDL. The swelling behaviors of 5% CS/SA hydrogels with different contents of GDL were therefore investigated. The swelling ratios of the hydrogels decreased with increasing GDL, and 5% CS/SA hydrogel with 1% GDL swelled by only less than 5%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation of the scaffolds showed an optimal interconnected porous structure, with the pore size ranging between 50 and 200 μm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and SEM showed that the CS/SA composite hydrogel induced the formation of hydroxyapatite on the surface of the materials in simulated body fluid. In addition, rat bone mesenchymal stem cells (rtBMSCs) cultured in the presence of hydrogels and their ionic extracts were able to maintain the viability and proliferation. Furthermore, the CS/SA composite hydrogel and its ionic extracts stimulated rtBMSCs to produce alkaline phosphatase, and its ionic extracts could also promote angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Overall, all these results indicate that the CS/SA composite hydrogel efficiently supported the adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of osteogenic and angiogenic cells. Together with its porous three-dimensional structure and injectable properties, CS/SA composite hydrogel possesses great potential for bone regeneration and tissue engineering applications.