TY - JOUR

T1 - Versatile Mechanically Tunable Hydrogels for Therapeutic Delivery Applications

AU - Sun, Qiyao

AU - Tao, Siyuan

AU - Bovone, Giovanni

AU - Han, Garam

AU - Deshmukh, Dhananjay

AU - Tibbitt, Mark W.

AU - Ren, Qun

AU - Bertsch, Pascal

AU - Siqueira, Gilberto

AU - Fischer, Peter

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors. Advanced Healthcare Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Hydrogels provide a versatile platform for biomedical material fabrication that can be structurally and mechanically fine-tuned to various tissues and applications. Applications of hydrogels in biomedicine range from highly dynamic injectable hydrogels that can flow through syringe needles and maintain or recover their structure after extrusion to solid-like wound-healing patches that need to be stretchable while providing a selective physical barrier. In this study, a toolbox is designed using thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) polymeric matrices and nanocelluloses as reinforcing agent to obtain biocompatible hydrogels with altering mechanical properties, from a liquid injectable to a solid-like elastic hydrogel. The liquid hydrogels possess low viscosity and shear-thinning properties at 25 °C, which allows facile injection at room temperature, while they become viscoelastic gels at body temperature. In contrast, the covalently cross-linked solid-like hydrogels exhibit enhanced viscoelasticity. The liquid hydrogels are biocompatible and are able to delay the in vitro release and maintain the bioactivity of model drugs. The antimicrobial agent loaded solid-like hydrogels are effective against typical wound-associated pathogens. This work presents a simple method of tuning hydrogel mechanical strength to easily adapt to applications in different soft tissues and broaden the potential of renewable bio-nanoparticles in hybrid biomaterials with controlled drug release capabilities.

AB - Hydrogels provide a versatile platform for biomedical material fabrication that can be structurally and mechanically fine-tuned to various tissues and applications. Applications of hydrogels in biomedicine range from highly dynamic injectable hydrogels that can flow through syringe needles and maintain or recover their structure after extrusion to solid-like wound-healing patches that need to be stretchable while providing a selective physical barrier. In this study, a toolbox is designed using thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) polymeric matrices and nanocelluloses as reinforcing agent to obtain biocompatible hydrogels with altering mechanical properties, from a liquid injectable to a solid-like elastic hydrogel. The liquid hydrogels possess low viscosity and shear-thinning properties at 25 °C, which allows facile injection at room temperature, while they become viscoelastic gels at body temperature. In contrast, the covalently cross-linked solid-like hydrogels exhibit enhanced viscoelasticity. The liquid hydrogels are biocompatible and are able to delay the in vitro release and maintain the bioactivity of model drugs. The antimicrobial agent loaded solid-like hydrogels are effective against typical wound-associated pathogens. This work presents a simple method of tuning hydrogel mechanical strength to easily adapt to applications in different soft tissues and broaden the potential of renewable bio-nanoparticles in hybrid biomaterials with controlled drug release capabilities.

KW - drug delivery

KW - hydrogel

KW - injectable

KW - nanocellulose

KW - wound dressing

U2 - 10.1002/adhm.202304287

DO - 10.1002/adhm.202304287

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38488218

AN - SCOPUS:85189007289

JO - Advanced healthcare materials

JF - Advanced healthcare materials

SN - 2192-2640

ER -