An Injectable Integration of Autologous Bioactive Concentrated Growth Factor and Gelatin Methacrylate Hydrogel with Efficient Growth Factor Release and 3D Spatial Structure for Accelerated Wound Healing

Abstract

Growth factors are essential for wound healing owing to their multiple reparative effects. Concentrated growth factor (CGF) is a third‐generation platelet extract containing various endogenous growth factors. Herein, a CGF extract solution is combined with gelatin methacrylate (GM) by physical blending to produce GM@CGF hydrogels for wound repair. The GM@CGF hydrogels show no immune rejection during autologous transplantation. Compared to CGF, GM@CGF hydrogels not only exhibit excellent plasticity and adhesivity but also prevent rapid release and degradation of growth factors. The GM@CGF hydrogels display good injectability, self‐healing, swelling, and degradability along with outstanding cytocompatibility, angiogenic functions, chemotactic functions, and cell migration‐promoting capabilities in vitro. The GM@CGF hydrogel can release various effective molecules to rapidly initiate wound repair, stimulate the expressions of type I collagen, transform growth factor β1, epidermal growth factor, and vascular endothelial growth factor, promote the production of granulation tissues, vascular regeneration and reconstruction, collagen deposition, and epidermal cell migration, as well as prevent excessive scar formation. In conclusion, the injectable GM@CGF hydrogel can release various growth factors and provide a 3D spatial structure to accelerate wound repair, thereby providing a foundation for the clinical application and translation of CGF.

Methacrylated gelatin and platelet-rich plasma based hydrogels promote regeneration of critical-sized bone defects

“…While we performed release studies in in a dynamic environment in vitro , it may be different than that of the in vivo microenvironment. These data further demonstrate the effectiveness of GM@PRP hydrogels for the sustained release of different types of GFs [ 10 ]. Thus, these results inform about the sustained release of GFs from GM@PRP hydrogels in vitro .…”

“…We prepared GM@PRP hydrogels by blending appropriate proportions of PRP and GM solutions. The PRP was collected from the blood while GM was obtained by the modification of Gel [ 10 ]. The GM solution displayed a transparent color.…”

“…The PRP is rich in diverse GFs, whose release may have implications for the biological functions of the hydrogels. Consequently, we collected the supernatant after the degradation of scaffolds for up to different time points in vitro and carried out ELISA for PDGF, EGF, and TGF-β1 [ 10 ]. The above-mentioned GFs showed marked release at Day 5, which became almost constant thereafter.…”

“…Hydrogels exhibit large water content as well as mechanical properties similar to the soft biological tissues. Consequently, hydrogels have been widely exploited for the regeneration of injured soft and hard tissue, including osteochondral and musculoskeletal defects [ 10 , 11 ]. Especially, natural and synthetic polymers have been extensively utilized to develop scaffolds for bone tissue repair.…”

Composite Aerogel Scaffolds Containing Flexible Silica Nanofiber and Tricalcium Phosphate Enable Skin Regeneration

“…38 To discern the effect of SiO 2 nanofiber and TCP on angiogenesis in vitro, the tubular network formation of HUVECs was performed in vitro; the latter can form capillarylike networks. 39 As shown in Figure 3f, the TCP1@SSF, TCP2@SSF, and TCP3@SSF groups displayed significant angiogenic network formation, such as the number of nodes (Figure 6c), meshes (Figure 6d), and total branching length (Figure 6e), thereby indicating the significant effect of TCP on angiogenesis in vitro.…”