Fabrication and Characterization of Hydrogels Based on Gelatinised Collagen with Potential Application in Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Regenerative medicine is increasingly focused on the development of biomaterials that facilitate cell adhesion and proliferation through the use of natural polymers, which have better biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this way, the use of hydrogels has been considered as a potential option for tissue engineering due to their physical and chemical characteristics. However, few studies associate the raw materials properties and processing conditions with the final characteristics of hydrogels, which could condition their use as scaffolds for tissue engineering. In this context, the main objective of this work was the evaluation of type I collagen as raw material for the elaboration of hydrogels. In addition, gelation time, pH and temperature were evaluated as the most influential variables in the hydrogel processing method by rheological (time, strain and frequency sweep tests) and microstructural (Cryo-SEM) measurements. The results indicate that it is possible to obtain collagen hydrogels with adequate rheological and microstructural characteristics by selecting optimal processing conditions. However, further studies are necessary to assess their suitability for cell accommodation and growth.

Rheological and Microstructural Evaluation of Collagen-Based Scaffolds Crosslinked with Fructose

“…The scaffolds were obtained following the procedure described by Perez-Puyana et al [ 26 ]. The same preparation procedure was carried out for both systems (hydrogels and aerogels), with the difference that, to obtain aerogels, two further steps were necessary for water removal after hydrogel formation (freeze-drying process).…”

“…A gelation process was conducted to obtain the hydrogels. The process followed was similar to that used in other studies on protein-based hydrogels [ 26 ]. Briefly, collagen solutions were prepared at different concentrations (namely 5, 10, and 20 mg/mL) using acetic acid as solvent (0.05 M, pH = 3).…”

“…In hydrogels, the viscoelastic properties were evaluated using two types of rheological tests previously described in Perez-Puyana et al (2020) [ 26 ]. Briefly, strain sweep tests (0.1–100% at 1 Hz and 20 °C) were carried out to determine both the linear viscoelastic range (LVR) and critical strain.…”

Elucidating the Molecular Mechanisms for the Interaction of Water with Polyethylene Glycol-Based Hydrogels: Influence of Ionic Strength and Gel Network Structure

“…The polymer source is either natural or synthetic. Natural hydrogels used in biomedical applications include agarose, alginate, chitosan, collagen, fibrin, gelatin, hyaluronic acid (HA) and various combinations and derivatives thereof [ 11 , 12 ]. Commonly used synthetic hydrogels include poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(propylene furmarate- co -ethylene glycol) (P[PF- co -EG]), and synthetic polypeptides as well as many different co-polymers [ 13 ].…”

Generation of Photopolymerized Microparticles Based on PEGDA Using Microfluidic Devices. Part 1. Initial Gelation Time and Mechanical Properties of the Material

“…Characterization of the solutions with respect to the initial gelation time takes a very important role in the generation of photopolymerized microparticles using microfluidic devices. Even though a short initial gelation time could be achieved by changing the temperature [ 41 ], in the present study all the experiments were made at room temperature (25 °C). Another important element is the pH in the solution because it decreases the ion concentration which is important in the polymerization process [ 42 ]; however, the value of pH 8.5 remained constant for all the experiments.Therefore, experiments to estimate the initial gelation time of the different formulations were carried out at 500 mL; Table 1 , with a initial pH of 8.5 and a temperature of 25 °C.…”