Hydrazone covalent adaptable networks modulate extracellular matrix deposition for cartilage tissue engineering.

ABSTRACT: Cartilage tissue engineering strategies often rely on hydrogels with fixed covalent crosslinks for chondrocyte encapsulation, yet the resulting material properties are largely elastic and can impede matrix deposition. To address this limitation, hydrazone crosslinked poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels were formulated to achieve tunable viscoelastic properties and to study how chondrocyte proliferation and matrix deposition vary with the time-dependent material properties of covalent adaptable networks. Hydrazone equilibrium differences were leveraged to produce average stress relaxation times from hours (4.01 × 10³ s) to months (2.78 × 10⁶ s) by varying the percentage of alkyl-hydrazone (aHz) and benzyl-hydrazone (bHz) crosslinks. Swelling behavior and degradation associ

SUBMITTER: Richardson BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6291351 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature