Adjustable biodegradability of low-swelling hydrogels prepared from recombinant peptides based on human collagen type 1

Abstract

An ideal hydrogel for tissue engineering and regenerative therapy is cytocompatible, biocompatible, and has low-swelling characteristics. Recently, a novel low-swelling hydrogel with a homogenous structure was developed by crosslinking a recombinant peptide, modeled on human collagen type 1 (RCPhC1), with a four-arm polyethylene glycol (tetra-PEG). Here, we hypothesized that the biodegradability of the RCPhC1 hydrogel was adjustable by altering its initial polymer concentration. Three types of RCPhC1 hydrogels were prepared using the initial polymer at different concentrations, and their morphology, swelling ratio, collagenase degradability, cytocompatibility, biocompatibility, and biodegradability were compared. The results revealed a low swelling ratio. The higher the concentration of the initial polymer, the longer it took for it to be degraded by collagenase. The average cell viability ratio was over 92% when using the direct contact method, which suggests that the hydrogels have excellent cytocompatibility. No death, tumorigenesis, exposure of the implants, or skin necrosis associated with the subcutaneous implantation of the hydrogels was found in mice in vivo. Moreover, histological evaluation revealed the formation of a thin fibrous capsule, which suggests an acceptable biocompatibility. Furthermore, as hypothesized, it was confirmed that the biodegradability can be adjusted by changing the initial polymer concentration. Collectively, the ability to fine-tune the biodegradability of RCPhC1 hydrogels demonstrates their potential for use in various clinical applications.

How the Hyaline Cartilage is Formed in the Siphonopoda as the Model of Higher Organisms?

“…The collagen fibers in cephalopods contain interstitial tissue and a large distance between tissue cells, this characteristic appears in artificially cultured tissue and animals breathing through the skin or soft tissue. For instance, Octopus vulgaris traps the air taken by the animal through the skin to the skin tissue and then uses it for breathing process matching the higher terristerials animals (Grześkowiak, 2022;Nakano et al, 2022;Patte et al, 2022;Wang et al, 2022;Yin et al, 2022;Abd Elrheem, 2023). The interstitial area functions as similar as the lower lung, with lower content of dissolved oxygen which is adequate for survival, and this is common in kingdom Animalia such as hagfish (Smith et al, 2010;Birk et al, 2018;Eom et al, 2022).…”

“…The Siphonopoda indicates the presence of a siphon, so the old term is true nomenclature and right in classification. The cartilage formation process in all animals' appearance of cells is responsible for the formation of bone (Depew, 2008;Debiais-Thibaud, 2019;Molnar et al, 2022). Some authors identified the presence of a permanent layer of conchiolin as collagen fibers' origin; however, they considered the appearance of protostome characters to be the remains of animal creatures (Gong et al, 2012;Ruiz, 2020;Whalen et al, 2022;Salas et al, 2022).…”