title: Carbodiimide cross-linked hyaluronic acid hydrogels as cell sheet delivery vehicles: characterization and interaction with corneal endothelial cells.
abstract: It was reported that cell-adhesive gelatin discs have been successfully used as delivery vehicles for intraocular grafting of bioengineered corneal endothelial cell sheets. Development of alternative biomaterials to bovine-based gelatin vehicles can potentially eliminate the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. In the present work, to investigate whether it was appropriate for use as cell sheet delivery vehicles, 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) cross-linked hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels were studied by determinations of morphological characteristic, mechanical and thermal property, water content, in vitro degradability and cytocompatibility. Glutaraldehyde (GTA) cross-linked HA samples were used for comparison. It was found that HA discs after cross-linking significantly increased its tensile stress but reduced its tensile strain, water uptake and enzymatic degradability. The results of differential scanning calorimetry demonstrated that cross-linking could lead to the alteration of polymer structure. In addition, the EDC-cross-linked HA discs had a smoother surface structure, a faster degradation rate and a relatively lower cytotoxicity as compared to the GTA cross-linked counterparts. It is concluded that EDC can be successfully applied for HA cross-linking to fabricate structurally stable, mechanically reinforced, readily deformable, transparent and cytocompatible HA hydrogel discs with the potential to be applied as delivery vehicles for corneal endothelial cell therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Pei-Lin
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Jui-Yang
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: David Hui-Kang
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Ging-Ho
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Hsiue
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000166:cytology*; D005022:Ethyldimethylaminopropyl Carbodiimide / Q000737:chemistry*; D005976:Glutaral / Q000737:chemistry; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase / Q000737:chemistry; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011817:Rabbits; D013499:Surface Properties; D013718:Tensile Strength; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D014867:Water; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase; D005022:Ethyldimethylaminopropyl Carbodiimide; D005976:Glutaral