Crosslinked fibrin gels for tissue engineering: two approaches to improve their properties.
Fibrin is a protein that can be used as an ideal scaffolding material to promote tissue regeneration. In order to enhance its physical properties in this study a natural crosslinker, genipin (GP), was employed with the aim to obtain a hydrogel with tuneable properties for tissue engineering applications. The fibrin gel was crosslinked by two different methods using four concentrations of GP to get a stable hydrogel network. Crosslinking density, mechanical properties, swelling, and enzymatic degradation of the hydrogels were tested for each GP content and method employed. The method I: Crosslinking after gel formation promotes a high crosslinking and retains the gel shape for long term whilst the method II: Simultaneous gel formation and crosslinking improves the mechanical properties of the gel. This study confirms the use of GP at different concentrations as a suitable crosslinker of fibrin that promotes the cellular viability of L929 for 21 days of in vitro culture.
Centre for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de vera, s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain.
Tatiana C
TC
Gamboa-Martínez
Victoria
V
Luque-Guillén
Cristina
C
González-García
José Luis
JL
Gómez Ribelles
Gloria
G
Gallego-Ferrer
D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry*; D005337:Fibrin / Q000737:chemistry*; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D023822:Tissue Engineering
D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D005782:Gels; D005337:Fibrin
Fibrin; genipin; hydrogel; natural crosslinker; tissue engineering