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Synthesis of bioinspired collagen/alginate/fibrin based hydrogels for soft tissue engineering

2018; Elsevier BV; Volume: 91; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.msec.2018.04.101

1873-0191

Giorgia Montalbano, Sotiria Toumpaniari, Alexander Popov, Pengfei Duan, Jinju Chen, Kenny Dalgarno, William E. Scott, Ana Marina Ferreira,

Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Hydrogels based on natural polymers offer a range of properties to mimic the native extracellular matrix, and provide microenvironments to preserve cellular function and encourage tissue formation. A tri-component hydrogel using collagen, alginate and fibrin (CAF) was developed and investigated at three collagen concentrations for application as a functional extracellular matrix analogue. Physical-chemical characterization of CAF hydrogels demonstrated a thermo-responsive crosslinking capacity at physiological conditions with stiffness similar to native soft tissues. CAF hydrogels were also assessed for cytocompatibility using L929 murine fibroblasts, pancreatic MIN6 β-cells and human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs); and demonstrated good cell viability, proliferation and metabolic activity after 7 days of in vitro culture. CAF hydrogels, especially with 2.5% w/v collagen, increased alkaline phosphatase production in hMSCs indicating potential for the promotion of osteogenic activity. Moreover, CAF hydrogels also increased metabolic activity of MIN6 β-cells and promoted the reconstitution of spherical pseudoislets with sizes ranging between 50 and 150 μm at day 7, demonstrating potential in diabetic therapeutic applications.