Dextran‐Based Self‐Healing Hydrogels Formed by Reversible Diels–Alder Reaction under Physiological Conditions

Abstract

A dextran-based self-healing hydrogel is prepared by reversible Diels-Alder reaction under physiological conditions. Cytocompatible fulvene-modified dextran as main polymer chains and dichloromaleic-acid-modified poly(ethylene glycol) as cross-linkers are used. Both macro- and microscopic observation as well as the rheological recovery test confirm the self-healing property of the dextran-l-poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels ("l" means "linked-by"). In addition, scanning electrochemical microscopy is used to qualitatively and quantitatively in situ track the self-healing process of the hydrogel for the first time. It is found that the longitudinal depth of scratch on hydrogel surface almost completely healed at 37 °C after 7 h. This work represents a facile approach for fabrication of polysaccharide self-healing hydrogel, which can be potentially used in several biomedical fields.

Biodegradable hyaluronic acid hydrogels to control release of dexamethasone through aqueous Diels–Alder chemistry for adipose tissue engineering

“…Given the high specificity and efficiency, the success of aqueous Diels-Alder chemistry has been exploited elegantly in bioconjugation of protein, peptides and oligonucleotides. [21][22][23][24][25] Furthermore, the biocompatibility of aqueous Diels-Alder chemistry has been extended to synthesis of hydrogels, which were site-specific without interference of many functional groups present in molecules [21,24]. For example, we have previously exploited the aqueous DielsAlder chemistry for conjugation of a natural polysaccharide hydrogel for charged drug delivery via the electrostatic interaction.…”

Facile fabrication of self-healing carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogels

“…To equip hydrogels with self-healing features, two major strategies have been proposed. One is based on dynamic covalent bonds, such as phenylboronate ester bond [9,10], acylhydrazone bond [11], disulfide bond [12,13] and Diels-Alder reaction [14,15]; the other is based on non-covalent bonds, such as electrostatic interactions [16][17][18], hydrophobic interactions [19,20], host-guest recognition [21,22] and hydrogen bonding [23]. The developed self-healing hydrogels can be potentially used in various areas of tissue adhesives, agents for drug/cell delivery, coatings and sealants [8].…”

Dextran-based hydrogel formed by thiol-Michael addition reaction for 3D cell encapsulation

“…Exploring novel hydrogel system for 3D cell encapsulation will arouse a general readership among the scientists in the fields of biomaterial, in particular researchers working on 3D cell encapsulation. As a natural-derived polysaccharide constituted by glucose, dextran has attracted wide attention as excellent biomacromolecule for preparing semi-synthetic hydrogels, owing to the properties of biocompatibility, nontoxicity and easy chemical modification [37][38][39]. Although several dextran-based semi-synthetic hydrogels have been investigated for drug delivery, protein release and biosensor [40][41][42], there are few reports on 3D cell encapsulation system due to the lack of appropriate gelation approach.…”