Synthesis and Characterization of Carboxymethylcellulose-Methacrylate Hydrogel Cell Scaffolds

Abstract

Many carbohydrates pose advantages for tissue engineering applications due to their hydrophilicity, degradability, and availability of chemical groups for modification. For example, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) is a water-soluble cellulose derivative that is degradable by cellulase. Though this enzyme is not synthesized by mammalian cells, cellulase and the fragments derived from CMC degradation are biocompatible. With this in mind, we created biocompatible, selectively degradable CMC-based hydrogels that are stable in routine culture, but degrade when exposed to exogenous cellulase. Solutions of CMC-methacrylate and polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate (PEG-DM) were co-crosslinked to form stable hydrogels; we found that greater CMC-methacrylate content resulted in increased gel swelling, protein diffusion and rates of degradation by cellulase, as well as decreased gel shear modulus. CMC-methacrylate/PEG-DM gels modified with the adhesive peptide RGD supported fibroblast adhesion and viability. We conclude that hydrogels based on CMC-methacrylate are suitable for bioengineering applications where selective degradability may be favorable, such as cell scaffolds or controlled release devices.

Composite Biomaterials as Long‐Lasting Scaffolds for 3D Bioprinting of Highly Aligned Muscle Tissue

“…Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is a water‐soluble and biocompatible derivative of cellulose and it is derived from abundant renewable resources. CMC hydrogels are not biodegradable by mammalian cells and, for this reason, they can be used as a natural biocompatible material to produce non‐degradable structures . Only a few applications use it to encapsulate cells and CMC‐methacrylate combined with GelMA has never been tested in tissue engineering applications.…”

Sericin–carboxymethyl cellulose porous matrices as cellular wound dressing material

“…Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is water‐soluble cellulose ether, and an acid derivative of cellulose. Due to their low cost, biodegradability, and nontoxicity, cellulose and its derivatives are highly attractive biopolymers for biomedical applications as an antioxidant, as exudates absorber near wounds, for control drug release, and as cell carriers . It finds applications in preventing postoperative adherences and epidural scarring.…”

Bioactive factor delivery strategies from engineered polymer hydrogels for therapeutic medicine

“…Swelling behavior, mechanical properties and degradation profiles depend on the degree of methacrylation as well as the surrounding aqueous environment composition. Similarly, water-soluble natural carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) was coupled with AEMA via EDC chemistry to achieve CMC-AEMA macromers [130]. The macromers were photocrosslinked with PEG-dimethacrylate (PEGDM) to form cytocompatible and degradable hydrogels.…”