Engineering Hydrogels beyond a Hydrated Network

Abstract

IntroductionBiomaterials research aims to recapitulate different extracellular environments that dictate cell fates, for understanding the underlying cell biology and the development of smart materials In recent years, many mechanical, physical, chemical, and biochemical features of biomatrices have emerged as important properties to dictate the fates of cells. To construct chemically defined biomaterials to recapitulate various biological niches for both cell biology research and therapeutic utilities, it has become increasingly clear that a simple hydrated polymer network would not be able to provide the complex cues and signaling required for many types of cells. The researchers are facing a growing list of mechanophysical and biochemical properties, while each of them could be an important cellular trigger. To include all these design parameters in screening and synthesis is practically difficult, if not impossible. Developing novel high throughput screening technology by combining assay miniaturization, computer simulations, and modeling can help researchers to tackle the challenge to identify the most relevant parameters to tailor materials for specific applications. BiomaterialsThe ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under https://doi.

Microfluidic Fabrication of Click Chemistry-Mediated Hyaluronic Acid Microgels: A Bottom-Up Material Guide to Tailor a Microgel’s Physicochemical and Mechanical Properties

“…The need for more complex biomaterials that specifically address mechanical, physicochemical, or functional properties has pushed the ongoing development of multifunctional or smart materials beyond a simply crosslinked hydrogel networks [ 76 ]. In this perspective, we highlight the versatility of the combination of HA-based material design, microfluidic processing and click reactions by introducing novel hetero-trifunctional HA-microgels.…”

Cytocompatible, Injectable, and Electroconductive Soft Adhesives with Hybrid Covalent/Noncovalent Dynamic Network

“…[8][9][10] Conductive polymers, such as polypyrrole (PPy), polyaniline (PAni), and poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), have been used in the synthesis of electroconductive hydrogels due to their high conductivity and ease of processing. [17] Moreover, a soft conductive adhesive, which can be utilized as injectable material, as well as bio-ink for in situ bioprinting, will close the gap between electroconductive materials and biomaterials, lead to numerous medical and clinical applications. [5,15,16] A highly hydrated electroconductive network, with biochemical and mechanophysical properties similar to the natural extracellular matrix, can provide a cell-compatible scaffold for 3D cell culture.…”

“…However, the state‐of‐the‐art technology suffers from particular properties of conductive polymers, such as high hydrophobicity and insolubility, resulting in low adherence to wet substrates and poor penetration into living tissues . A highly hydrated electroconductive network, with biochemical and mechanophysical properties similar to the natural extracellular matrix, can provide a cell‐compatible scaffold for 3D cell culture . Moreover, a soft conductive adhesive, which can be utilized as injectable material, as well as bio‐ink for in situ bioprinting, will close the gap between electroconductive materials and biomaterials, lead to numerous medical and clinical applications …”