title: Dynamic viscoelastic properties of collagen gels with high mechanical strength.
abstract: We developed a new method for the preparation of mechanically strong collagen gels by combining successively basic gel formation, followed by 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) cross-linking and lyophilization. Gels cross-linked three times with this method showed stronger mechanical properties (G': 3730±2060 Pa, G″: 288±35 Pa) than a conventional gel that was sequentially cross-linked with EDC once (G': 226±70 Pa, G″: 21±4.4 Pa), but not as strong as the same gel with heating for 30 min at 80°C (G': 7010±830 Pa, G″: 288±35 Pa) reported in our previous paper. The conventional collagen gel was cross-linked with EDC once, heated once, and then subjected twice to a lyophilization-gel formation-cross-linking cycle to give three-cycled gel 2. This gel had the strongest mechanical properties (G': 40,200±18,000 Pa, G″: 3090±1400 Pa, Young's modulus: 0.197±0.069 MPa) of the gels tested. These promising results suggest possible applications of the gels as scaffolds in tissue engineering research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Prefecture University, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Kousuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hara
mesh_terms: D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry*; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D005022:Ethyldimethylaminopropyl Carbodiimide / Q000737:chemistry; D005720:Gamma Rays; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D005782:Gels; D003094:Collagen; D005022:Ethyldimethylaminopropyl Carbodiimide