Tunable collagen I hydrogels for engineered physiological tissue micro-environments.

ABSTRACT: Collagen I hydrogels are commonly used to mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) for tissue engineering applications. However, the ability to design collagen I hydrogels similar to the properties of physiological tissues has been elusive. This is primarily due to the lack of quantitative correlations between multiple fabrication parameters and resulting material properties. This study aims to enable informed design and fabrication of collagen hydrogels in order to reliably and reproducibly mimic a variety of soft tissues. We developed empirical predictive models relating fabrication parameters with material and transport properties. These models were obtained through extensive experimental characterization of these properties, which include compression modulus, pore and fiber diameter, and d

SUBMITTER: Antoine EE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4378848 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature