| Autor: |
Prakash G; Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada., Clasky AJ; Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada., Gadani K; Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada., Nazeri M; Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G9, Canada., Gu FX; Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada.; Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 164 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G9, Canada. |
| Abstrakt: |
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a biomedically relevant polymer widely explored as a component of hydrogels. The prevailing approaches for cross-linking HA into hydrogels require chemically modifying the polymer, which can increase processing steps and complicate biocompatibility. Herein, we demonstrate an alternative approach to cross-link HA that eliminates the need for chemical modifications by leveraging the interactions between metal cations and the negatively charged, ionizable functional groups on HA. We demonstrate that HA can be cross-linked with the bivalent metal cations Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Pd(II), and notably Mg(II). Using Mg(II) as a model, we show that ion-HA hydrogel rheological properties can be tuned by altering the HA molecular weight and concentrations of ions, NaOH, and HA. Mg(II)-HA hydrogels showed the potential for self-healing and stimulus response. Our findings lay the groundwork for developing a new class of HA-based hydrogels for use in biomedical applications and beyond. |
