title: On the demixing of hyaluronan and alginate in the gel state.
abstract: The manuscript focuses on the demixing of hyaluronan and alginate in the hydrogel state. Binary solutions of the two polysaccharides have been treated with Ca2+as the alginate cross-linking ion and the radial distribution of the two components in the hydrogels was measured by means of1H NMR. These results revealed the presence of alginate-enriched and hyaluronan-enriched domains stemming from a polysaccharide demixing. The hydrogels were characterized by means of uniaxial compression and creep-compliance measurements which showed that the demixing increased the overall resistance of the hydrogel to stress. In addition, due to the viscoelastic properties of hyaluronan, a marked increase of the Newtonian viscosity of the constructs was noticed. The peculiarity of the effect of hyaluronan was demonstrated by the use of an alginate unable to form gel by binding non-calcium binding alginate, i.e. mannuronan, ruling out the effect of viscosity over the time-dependent behavior of the mixed hyaluronan-alginate hydrogels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgieri 5, 34127 Trieste, Italy; PhD School of Nanotechnology, Department of Physics, Via Valerio 2, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scognamiglio
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgieri 5, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Travan
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgieri 5, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cok
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgieri 5, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borgogna
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, and Health Sciences, Piazza dell'Ospitale 1, University of Trieste, 34100 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marsich
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgieri 5, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paoletti
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgieri 5, 34127 Trieste, Italy. Electronic address: idonati@units.it.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Donati
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry*; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D005782:Gels; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005782:Gels; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid
keywords: Alginate; Biomaterials; Creep compliance; Demixing; Hyaluronan