Catalyst-Free Collagen Filament Crosslinking for Engineering Anisotropic and Mechanically Robust Tissue Scaffolds.

ABSTRACT: Engineering mechanically resilient hydrogels from naturally derived proteins, such as collagen and gelatin, remains a key challenge in tissue regeneration, particularly when cell compatibility and structural integrity are simultaneously required. Here, a bioorthogonal crosslinking strategy using rhodamine and polyethylene glycol (PEG) is reported to fabricate dense, mechanically reinforced collagen hydrogels. PEG-mediated dehydration induces spontaneous peptide bond formation between rhodamine and collagen without the need for additional catalysts, yielding fibrous protein networks with enhanced stiffness. To enable anisotropic tissue engineering, this crosslinking method is integrated with wet-spinning to produce uniaxially aligned collagen filaments. These constructs exhibit high mechani

SUBMITTER: Kim J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12903963 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature