title: Desmosine-inspired cross-linkers for hyaluronan hydrogels.
abstract: We designed bioinspired cross-linkers based on desmosine, the cross-linker in natural elastin, to prepare hydrogels with thiolated hyaluronic acid. These short, rigid cross-linkers are based on pyridinium salts (as in desmosine) and can connect two polymer backbones. Generally, the obtained semi-synthetic hydrogels are form-stable, can withstand repeated stress, have a large linear-elastic range, and show strain stiffening behavior typical for biopolymer networks. In addition, it is possible to introduce a positive charge to the core of the cross-linker without affecting the gelation efficiency, or consequently the network connectivity. However, the mechanical properties strongly depend on the charge of the cross-linker. The properties of the presented hydrogels can thus be tuned in a range important for engineering of soft tissues by controlling the cross-linking density and the charge of the cross-linker.
authors.affiliation: Department of New Materials and Biosystems, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Heisenbergstr. 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Valentin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hagel
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mateescu
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Southan
authors.forename: Seraphine V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Wegner
authors.forename: Isabell
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nuss
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Haraszti
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kleinhans
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schuh
authors.forename: Joachim P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Spatz
authors.forename: Petra J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Kluger
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bach
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tussetschläger
authors.forename: Günter E M
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Tovar
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Laschat
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boehm
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry*; D003895:Desmosine / Q000737:chemistry*; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D015394:Molecular Structure; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D020100:Hydrogels; D003895:Desmosine; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid