Self-Healing Alginate Hydrogel Formed by Dynamic Benzoxaborolate Chemistry Protects Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells against Oxidative Damage

Abstract

Oxidative stress is considered as a major factor causing retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) dysfunction and finally leading to retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Developing hydrogels for RPE cell delivery, especially those with antioxidant feature, is emerging as a promising approach for AMD treatment. Herein, a readily prepared antioxidant alginate-based hydrogel was developed to serve as a cytoprotective agent for RPE cells against oxidative damage. Alg-BOB was synthesized via conjugation of benzoxaborole (BOB) to the polysaccharide backbone. Hydrogels were formed through self-crosslinking of Alg-BOB based on benzoxaborole-diol complexation. The resulting hydrogel showed porous micro-structure, pH dependent mechanical strength and excellent self-healing, remolding, and injectable properties. Moreover, the hydrogel exhibited excellent cytocompatibility and could efficiently scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) to achieve an enhanced viability of ARPE-19 cells under oxidative condition. Altogether, our study reveals that the antioxidant Alg-BOB hydrogel represents an eligible candidate for RPE delivery and AMD treatment.

Phenylboronate-salicylate ester cross-linked self-healing hydrogel composed of modified hyaluronan at physiological pH

“…The SEM images of the freeze-dried hydrogels support the evidence of the three-dimensional cross-linking of boronate esters. 7,8,28,38,39 The porous structures on the micrometre order are typically observed in the freeze-dried hydrogels. The freezedried samples of the BA-HA/Sal-HA system at pH 4.0, 7.3, and 11.2 were observed through FE-SEM (Fig.…”

Biomaterials used for tissue engineering of barrier-forming cell monolayers in the eye

“…• Vitamin E NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR Schwartz et al, (2015); Liu et al, (2022b) • hESC-RPE AMD, age-related macular Degeneration; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; AAV, Adeno-associated virus; CNTF, ciliary neurotrophic factor; hUC-MSCs, human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells; hESC-RPE, human embryonic stem-cell derived retinal pigment epithelium.…”