Browsing by Subject "Hydrogels"
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Item Assessing monocyte phenotype in poly(γ-glutamic acid) hydrogels formed by orthogonal thiol–norbornene chemistry(IOP, 2021-07) Kim, Min Hee; Lin, Chien-Chi; Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and TechnologyHydrogels with tunable properties are highly desirable in tissue engineering applications as they can serve as artificial extracellular matrix to control cellular fate processes, including adhesion, migration, differentiation, and other phenotypic changes via matrix induced mechanotransduction. Poly(γ-glutamic acid) (PGA) is an natural anionic polypeptide that has excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and water solubility. Moreover, the abundant carboxylic acids on PGA can be readily modified to introduce additional functionality or facilitate chemical crosslinking. PGA and its derivatives have been widely used in tissue engineering applications. However, no prior work has explored orthogonal crosslinking of PGA hydrogels by thiol-norbornene (NB) chemistry. In this study, we report the synthesis and orthogonal crosslinking of PGA-norbornene (PGANB) hydrogels. PGANB was synthesized by standard carbodiimide chemistry and crosslinked into hydrogels via either photopolymerization or enzymatic reaction. Moduli of PGA hydrogels were readily tuned by controlling thiol-NB crosslinking conditions or stoichiometric ratio of functional groups. Orthogonally crosslinked PGA hydrogels were used to evaluate the influence of mechanical cues of hydrogel substrate on the phenotype of naïve human monocytes and M0 macrophages in 3D culture.Item Dual Functionalization of Gelatin for Orthogonal and Dynamic Hydrogel Cross-Linking(American Chemical Society, 2021) Kim, Min Hee; Nguyen, Han; Chang, Chun-Yi; Lin, Chien-Chi; Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and TechnologyGelatin based hydrogels are widely used in biomedical fields owing to its abundance of bioactive motifs that support cell adhesion and matrix remodeling. While inherently bioactive, unmodified gelatin exhibits temperature-dependent rheology and solubilizes at body temperature, making it unstable for three-dimensional (3D) cell culture. Therefore, the addition of chemically reactive motifs is required to render gelatin-based hydrogels with highly controllable crosslinking kinetics and tunable mechanical properties that are critical for 3D cell culture. This article provides a series of methods toward establishing orthogonally crosslinked gelatin-based hydrogels for dynamic 3D cell culture. In particular, we prepared dually functionalized gelatin macromers amenable for sequential, orthogonal covalent crosslinking. Central to this material platform is the synthesis of norbornene-functionalized gelatin (GelNB), which forms covalently crosslinked hydrogels via orthogonal thiol-norbornene click crosslinking. Using GelNB as the starting material, we further detail the methods for synthesizing gelatin macromers susceptible to hydroxyphenylacetic acid (HPA) dimerization (i.e., GelNB-HPA) and hydrazone bonding (i.e., GelNB-CH) for on-demand matrix stiffening. Finally, we outline the protocol for synthesizing a gelatin macromer capable of adjusting hydrogel stress-relaxation via boronate ester bonding (i.e., GelNB-BA). The combinations of these orthogonal chemistries affords a wide range of gelatin based hydrogels as biomimetic matrices in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.Item Enzyme-mediated stiffening hydrogels for probing activation of pancreatic stellate cells(Elsevier, 2017-01-15) Liu, Hung-Yi; Greene, Tanja; Lin, Tsai-Yu; Dawes, Camron S.; Korc, Murray; Lin, Chien- Chi; Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and TechnologyThe complex network of biochemical and biophysical cues in the pancreatic desmoplasia not only presents challenges to the fundamental understanding of tumor progression, but also hinders the development of therapeutic strategies against pancreatic cancer. Residing in the desmoplasia, pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) are the major stromal cells affecting the growth and metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells by means of paracrine effects and extracellular matrix protein deposition. PSCs remain in a quiescent/dormant state until they are 'activated' by various environmental cues. While the mechanisms of PSC activation are increasingly being described in literature, the influence of matrix stiffness on PSC activation is largely unexplored. To test the hypothesis that matrix stiffness affects myofibroblastic activation of PSCs, we have prepared cell-laden hydrogels capable of being dynamically stiffened through an enzymatic reaction. The stiffening of the microenvironment was created by using a peptide linker with additional tyrosine residues, which were susceptible to tyrosinase-mediated crosslinking. Tyrosinase catalyzes the oxidation of tyrosine into dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA), DOPA quinone, and finally into DOPA dimer. The formation of DOPA dimer led to additional crosslinks and thus stiffening the cell-laden hydrogel. In addition to systematically studying the various parameters relevant to the enzymatic reaction and hydrogel stiffening, we also designed experiments to probe the influence of dynamic matrix stiffening on cell fate. Protease-sensitive peptides were used to crosslink hydrogels, whereas integrin-binding ligands (e.g., RGD motif) were immobilized in the network to afford cell-matrix interaction. PSC-laden hydrogels were placed in media containing tyrosinase for 6h to achieve in situ gel stiffening. We found that PSCs encapsulated and cultured in a stiffened matrix expressed higher levels of αSMA and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), suggestive of a myofibroblastic phenotype. This hydrogel platform offers a facile means of in situ stiffening of cell-laden matrices and should be valuable for probing cell fate process dictated by dynamic matrix stiffness. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Hydrogels with spatial-temporal controls over crosslinking kinetics (i.e., dynamic hydrogel) are increasingly being developed for studying mechanobiology in 3D. The general principle of designing dynamic hydrogel is to perform cell encapsulation within a hydrogel network that allows for postgelation modification in gel crosslinking density. The enzyme-mediated in situ gel stiffening is innovative because of the specificity and efficiency of enzymatic reaction. Although tyrosinase has been used for hydrogel crosslinking and in situ cell encapsulation, to the best of our knowledge tyrosinase-mediated DOPA formation has not been explored for in situ stiffening of cell-laden hydrogels. Furthermore, the current work provides a gradual matrix stiffening strategy that may more closely mimic the process of tumor development.Item Heparinized Gelatin-Based Hydrogels for Differentiation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells(American Chemical Society, 2022) Arkenberg, Matthew R.; Koehler, Karl; Lin, Chien-Chi; Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and TechnologyChemically defined hydrogels are increasingly utilized to define the effects of extracellular matrix (ECM) components on cellular fate determination of human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell (hESC and hiPSCs). In particular, hydrogels cross-linked by orthogonal click chemistry, including thiol-norbornene photopolymerization and inverse electron demand Diels-Alder (iEDDA) reactions, are explored for 3D culture of hESC/hiPSCs owing to the specificity, efficiency, cytocompatibility, and modularity of the cross-linking reactions. In this work, we exploited the modularity of thiol-norbornene photopolymerization to create a biomimetic hydrogel platform for 3D culture and differentiation of hiPSCs. A cell-adhesive, protease-labile, and cross-linkable gelatin derivative, gelatin-norbornene (GelNB), was used as the backbone polymer for constructing hiPSC-laden biomimetic hydrogels. GelNB was further heparinized via the iEDDA click reaction using tetrazine-modified heparin (HepTz), creating GelNB-Hep. GelNB or GelNB-Hep was modularly cross-linked with either inert macromer poly(ethylene glycol)-tetra-thiol (PEG4SH) or another bioactive macromer-thiolated hyaluronic acid (THA). The formulations of these hydrogels were modularly tuned to afford biomimetic matrices with similar elastic moduli but varying bioactive components, enabling the understanding of each bioactive component on supporting hiPSC growth and ectodermal, mesodermal, and endodermal fate commitment under identical soluble differentiation cues.Item Hydrolytically Degradable PEG-Based Inverse Electron Demand Diels-Alder Click Hydrogels(American Chemical Society, 2022) Dimmitt, Nathan H.; Arkenberg, Matthew R.; de Lima Perini, Mariana Moraes; Li, Jiliang; Lin, Chien-Chi; Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and TechnologyHydrogels cross-linked by inverse electron demand Diels-Alder (iEDDA) click chemistry are increasingly used in biomedical applications. With a few exceptions in naturally derived and chemically modified macromers, iEDDA click hydrogels exhibit long-term hydrolytic stability, and no synthetic iEDDA click hydrogels can undergo accelerated and tunable hydrolytic degradation. We have previously reported a novel method for synthesizing norbornene (NB)-functionalized multiarm poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), where carbic anhydride (CA) was used to replace 5-norbornene-2-carboxylic acid. The new PEGNBCA-based thiol-norbornene hydrogels exhibited unexpected fast yet highly tunable hydrolytic degradation. In this contribution, we leveraged the new PEGNBCA macromer for forming iEDDA click hydrogels with [methyl]tetrazine ([m]Tz)-modified macromers, leading to the first group of synthetic iEDDA click hydrogels with highly tunable hydrolytic degradation kinetics. We further exploited Tz and mTz dual conjugation to achieve tunable hydrolytic degradation with an in vitro degradation time ranging from 2 weeks to 3 months. Finally, we demonstrated the excellent in vitro cytocompatibility and in vivo biocompatibility of the new injectable PEGNBCA-based iEDDA click cross-linked hydrogels.Item Improving Cross-linking of Degradable Thiol-acrylate Hydrogels via Peptide Design(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2015-04-17) Bragg, John C.; Lin, Chien-ChiHydrogels fabricated from poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) based macromers are ideal for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. Recently, a new visible light-mediated photopolymerization scheme was developed to fabricate cytocompatible and degradable poly (ethylene glycol)-diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogels. Co-polymerization of mono-cysteine peptides (e.g. CRGDS) with PEGDA offers the gels with cell adhesion property. However, this approach causes significant reduction in network crosslinking density, in part due to chain transfer of thiols to acrylates. The goal of the project is to improve the network cross-linking efficiency of this peptide-immobilized PEGDA hydrogel for cell culture. We hypothesized that the incorporation of bi-functional bis-cysteine peptides or silk fibroin will produce hydrogels with enhanced stiffness. The shear moduli of the gels were characterized via oscillatory rheometry in strain-sweep (0.1-5%) mode. Hydrolytic degradation of the gels as a function of time was also evaluated by rheometry. Cytocompatibility of the hydrogel system will be assessed by in situ encapsulation of 3T3 fibroblasts. Cell metabolic activity was determined by Alamar-Blue assay. We found that the bis-cysteine peptide enhanced gel crosslinking, as compared with mono-cysteine peptide. Incorporation of silk fibroin protein also exhibited enhancement in gel stiffness. However, the optimum concentration of incorporated silk fibroin presented an increased shear modulus compared to gels containing only the mono-cysteine peptide. Ongoing work is focused on fine-tuning gel formulations and degradation, as well as on evaluating the cytocompatibility of these visible-light cured thiol-acrylate hydrogels.Item Novel Therapeutics: Can Hydrogels Work to Treat Kidney Disease?(Karger, 2023) Soranno, Danielle E.; Rodell, Christopher B.; Pediatrics, School of MedicineBackground: Hydrogels are water-swollen networks that can be made from a variety of natural and synthetic polymers. Numerous chemistries can be utilized to formulate hydrogels that are injectable, enabling facile in situ delivery of therapeutics such as cytokines or cells. Summary: Cells delivered via injectable hydrogels survive injection better than cells injected in saline or media suspension. Several materials have been used to investigate the use of injectable hydrogels to treat animal models of kidney disease. Species studied to date include mice and rats. This review summarizes the various materials, encapsulated therapeutic payloads, and preclinical models of kidney disease employed to investigate hydrogel injection. Transcutaneous measurements of glomerular filtration rate have demonstrated that delivery of hydrogels under the kidney capsule does not impair kidney function. Key messages: Studies to date have shown the safety and efficacy of hydrogel therapies to treat kidney disease, and numerous studies have demonstrated that hydrogel therapy alone reduces inflammation and fibrosis.Item Photo-click hydrogels for 3D in situ differentiation of pancreatic progenitors from induced pluripotent stem cells(BMC, 2023-08-30) Arkenberg, Matthew R.; Ueda, Yoshitomo; Hashino, Eri; Lin, Chien‑Chi; Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery, School of MedicineBackground: Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) can be differentiated to cells in all three germ layers, as well as cells in the extraembryonic tissues. Efforts in iPSC differentiation into pancreatic progenitors in vitro have largely been focused on optimizing soluble growth cues in conventional two-dimensional (2D) culture, whereas the impact of three-dimensional (3D) matrix properties on the morphogenesis of iPSC remains elusive. Methods: In this work, we employ gelatin-based thiol-norbornene photo-click hydrogels for in situ 3D differentiation of human iPSCs into pancreatic progenitors (PP). Molecular analysis and single-cell RNA-sequencing were utilized to elucidate on the distinct identities of subpopulations within the 2D and 3D differentiated cells. Results: We found that, while established soluble cues led to predominately PP cells in 2D culture, differentiation of iPSCs using the same soluble factors led to prominent branching morphogenesis, ductal network formation, and generation of diverse endoderm populations. Through single-cell RNA-sequencing, we found that 3D differentiation resulted in enrichments of pan-endodermal cells and ductal cells. We further noted the emergence of a group of extraembryonic cells in 3D, which was absent in 2D differentiation. The unexpected emergence of extraembryonic cells in 3D was found to be associated with enrichment of Wnt and BMP signaling pathways, which may have contributed to the emergence of diverse cell populations. The expressions of PP signature genes PDX1 and NKX6.1 were restored through inhibition of Wnt signaling at the beginning of the posterior foregut stage. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this work established the first 3D hydrogel system for in situ differentiation of human iPSCs into PPs.Item Photocrosslinkable methacrylated gelatin hydrogel as a cell-friendly injectable delivery system for chlorhexidine in regenerative endodontics(Elsevier, 2022) Ribeiro, Juliana S.; Sanz, Carolina K.; Münchow, Eliseu A.; Kalra, Nikhil; Dubey, Nileshkumar; Suárez, Carlos Enrique C.; Fenno, J. Christopher; Lund, Rafael G.; Bottino, Marco C.; Biomedical and Applied Sciences, School of DentistryObjectives: This work sought to formulate photocrosslinkable chlorhexidine (CHX)-laden methacrylated gelatin (CHX/GelMA) hydrogels with broad spectrum of action against endodontic pathogens as a clinically viable cell-friendly disinfection therapy prior to regenerative endodontics procedures. Methods: CHX/GelMA hydrogel formulations were successfully synthesized using CHX concentrations between 0.12 % and 5 % w/v. Hydrogel microstructure was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Swelling and enzymatic degradation were assessed to determine microenvironmental effects. Compression test was performed to investigate the influence of CHX incorporation on the hydrogels' biomechanics. The antimicrobial and anti-biofilm potential of the formulated hydrogels were assessed using agar diffusion assays and a microcosms biofilm model, respectively. The cytocompatibility was evaluated by exposing stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHEDs) to hydrogel extracts (i.e., leachable byproducts obtained from overtime hydrogel incubation in phosphate buffer saline). The data were analyzed using One- and Two-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (α = 0.05). Results: CHX/GelMA hydrogels were effectively prepared. NMR spectroscopy confirmed the incorporation of CHX into GelMA. The addition of CHX did not change the micromorphology (pore size) nor the swelling profile (p > 0.05). CHX incorporation reduced the degradation rate of the hydrogels (p < 0.001); whereas, it contributed to increased compressive modulus (p < 0.05). Regarding the antimicrobial properties, the incorporation of CHX showed a statistically significant decrease in the number of bacteria colonies at 0.12 % and 0.5 % concentration (p < 0.001) and completely inhibited the growth of biofilm at concentration levels 1 %, 2 %, and 5 %. Meanwhile, the addition of CHX, regardless of the concentration, did not lead to cell toxicity, as cell viability values were above 70 %. Significance: The addition of CHX into GelMA showed significant antimicrobial action against the pathogens tested, even at low concentrations, with the potential to be used as a cell-friendly injectable drug delivery system for root canal disinfection prior to regenerative endodontics.