Modulating Functionalized Poly(ethylene glycol) Diacrylate Hydrogel Mechanical Properties through Competitive Crosslinking Mechanics for Soft Tissue Applications.

ABSTRACT: Local mechanical stiffness influences cell behavior, and thus cell culture scaffolds should approximate the stiffness of the tissue type from which the cells are derived. In synthetic hydrogels, this has been difficult to achieve for very soft tissues such as neural. This work presents a method for reducing the stiffness of mechanically and biochemically tunable synthetic poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate hydrogels to within the soft tissue stiffness regime by altering the organization of the crosslinking sites. A soluble allyl-presenting monomer, which has a higher propensity for chain termination than acrylate monomers, was introduced into the PEG-diacrylate hydrogel precursor solution before crosslinking, resulting in acrylate-allyl competition and a reduction in gel compressive modulus

SUBMITTER: Chapla R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7766244 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature