Injectable pH-responsive adhesive hydrogels for bone tissue engineering inspired by the underwater attachment strategy of marine mussels.

ABSTRACT: A major challenge in tissue engineering is the development of alternatives to traditional bone autografts and allografts that can regenerate critical-sized bone defects. Here we present the design of injectable pH-responsive double-crosslinked adhesive hydrogels inspired by the molecular mechanism and environmental post-processing of marine mussel adhesive. Nine adhesive hydrogel formulations were developed through the conjugation of crosslinkable catechol functional groups (DOPA) and the synthetic oligomer oligo[poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate] (OPF), varying the DOPA content (w/w%) and molecular weight (MW) of the OPF backbone to produce formulations with a range of swelling ratios, porosities, and crosslink densities. DOPA incorporation altered the surface chemistry, mechanical propertie

SUBMITTER: George MN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9933951 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature