title: Performance and biocompatibility of extremely tough alginate/polyacrylamide hydrogels.
abstract: Although hydrogels now see widespread use in a host of applications, low fracture toughness and brittleness have limited their more broad use. As a recently described interpenetrating network (IPN) of alginate and polyacrylamide demonstrated a fracture toughness of ≈ 9000 J/m(2), we sought to explore the biocompatibility and maintenance of mechanical properties of these hydrogels in cell culture and in vivo conditions. These hydrogels can sustain a compressive strain of over 90% with minimal loss of Young's Modulus as well as minimal swelling for up to 50 days of soaking in culture conditions. Mouse mesenchymal stem cells exposed to the IPN gel-conditioned media maintain high viability, and although cells exposed to conditioned media demonstrate slight reductions in proliferation and metabolic activity (WST assay), these effects are abrogated in a dose-dependent manner. Implantation of these IPN hydrogels into subcutaneous tissue of rats for 8 weeks led to mild fibrotic encapsulation and minimal inflammatory response. These results suggest the further exploration of extremely tough alginate/PAAM IPN hydrogels as biomaterials.
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Max C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Darnell
authors.forename: Jeong-Yun
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Manav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Praveen R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Arany
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Suo
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Mooney
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D019736:Prostheses and Implants
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D000464:Alginates; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020100:Hydrogels; C016680:polyacrylamide gels; D020723:Glucuronic Acid
keywords: Biocompatibility; Hydrogel; Mechanical properties; Tendon prosthesis
references.citation: Nature. 2012 Sep 6;489(7414):133-6
references.pmid: 22955625
references.citation: Environ Technol. 2012 Apr-May;33(7-9):1021-8
references.pmid: 22720429
references.citation: Toxicol Lett. 2010 Mar 1;193(1):86-93
references.pmid: 20035847
references.citation: J Biomed Mater Res. 1990 Apr;24(4):463-70
references.pmid: 2189879
references.citation: J R Soc Interface. 2011 Feb 6;8(55):153-70
references.pmid: 20719768
references.citation: J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2004 May;15(5):631-9
references.pmid: 15386973
references.citation: J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev. 2006 Sep-Oct;9(5):397-412
references.pmid: 17492525
references.citation: Toxicol In Vitro. 1988;2(2):69-74
references.pmid: 20702340
references.citation: Science. 2012 Nov 16;338(6109):917-21
references.pmid: 23161992
references.citation: Biomaterials. 2005 May;26(15):2455-65
references.pmid: 15585248
references.citation: J Urol. 2002 Apr;167(4):1867-71
references.pmid: 11912450
references.citation: Drug Deliv. 2000 Apr-Jun;7(2):69-75
references.pmid: 10892406
references.citation: Biomacromolecules. 2005 Mar-Apr;6(2):927-31
references.pmid: 15762661
references.citation: J Chromatogr Sci. 1999 Dec;37(12):486-94
references.pmid: 10615596
references.citation: Chem Rev. 2001 Jul;101(7):1869-79
references.pmid: 11710233