title: A Tailor-Made Synthetic Polymer for Cell Encapsulation: Design Rationale, Synthesis, Chemical-Physics and Biological Characterizations.
abstract: This study presents a custom-made in situ gelling polymeric precursor for cell encapsulation. Composed of poly((2-hydroxyethyl)methacrylate-co-(3-aminopropyl)methacrylamide) (P(HEMA-co-APM) mother backbone and RGD-mimicking poly(amidoamine) (PAA) moiteis, the comb-like structured polymeric precursor is tailored to gather the advantages of the two families of synthetic polymers, i.e., the good mechanical integrity of PHEMA-based polymers and the biocompatibility and biodegradability of PAAs. The role of P(HEMA-co-APM) in the regulation of the chemico-physical properties of P(HEMA-co-APM)/PAA hydrogels is thoroughly investigated. On the basis of obtained results, namely the capability of maintaining vital NIH3T3 cell line in vitro for 2 d in a 3D cell culture, the in vivo biocompatibility in murine model for 16 d, and the ability of finely tuning mechanical properties and degradation kinetics, it can be assessed that P(HEMA-co-APM)/PAAs offer a cost-effective valid alternative to the so far studied natural polymer-based systems for cell encapsulation.
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Filarete per le Bioscienze e l'Innovazione, Viale Ortles 22/4, 20139, Milan, Italy.|Tensive s.r.l., Via Timavo 34, 20124, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Irini
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gerges
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Filarete per le Bioscienze e l'Innovazione, Viale Ortles 22/4, 20139, Milan, Italy.|Tensive s.r.l., Via Timavo 34, 20124, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamplenizza
authors.affiliation: SEMM, European School of Molecular Medicine, Campus IFOM-IEO, Via Adamello 16, 20139, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: SEMM, European School of Molecular Medicine, Campus IFOM-IEO, Via Adamello 16, 20139, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tocchio
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Filarete per le Bioscienze e l'Innovazione, Viale Ortles 22/4, 20139, Milan, Italy.|Tensive s.r.l., Via Timavo 34, 20124, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martello
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Filarete per le Bioscienze e l'Innovazione, Viale Ortles 22/4, 20139, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Recordati
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Centre, University of Manchester, Grosvenor Street, Manchester, M17HS, Greater Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Deepak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Guy Hilton Research Centre, Institute of Science and Technology in Medicine, University of Keele, Thornburrow Drive, Stoke-on-Trent, ST47QB, Staffordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Forsyth
authors.affiliation: Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Ashby Rd, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, Leicestershire, UK.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Filarete per le Bioscienze e l'Innovazione, Viale Ortles 22/4, 20139, Milan, Italy.|CIMAINA, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lenardi
mesh_terms: D000178:Acrylamides / Q000737:chemistry; D000409:Alanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007700:Kinetics; D008422:Materials Testing; D008689:Methacrylates / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D011102:Polyhydroxyethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000178:Acrylamides; D020100:Hydrogels; D008689:Methacrylates; C078798:3-(phenylamino)alanine; D011102:Polyhydroxyethyl Methacrylate; C005044:hydroxyethyl methacrylate; C045985:methacrylamide; D000409:Alanine
keywords: cell encapsulation; comb-like polymer; degradation kinetics; mechanical properties; photo-cross-linking; sol-gel