title: A π-π conjugation-containing soft and conductive injectable polymer hydrogel highly efficiently rebuilds cardiac function after myocardial infarction.
abstract: Previous studies suggested that a stiffer hydrogel system exhibited a better performance to promote heart function after myocardial infarction (MI). However, the nature of myocardium, a tissue that alternately contracts and relaxes with electrical impulses, leads us to hypothesize that a soft and conductive hydrogel may be in favor of mechanical and electrical signals transmission to enhance heart function after MI. In this work, π-π conjugation interaction was first employed to produce a soft injectable hydrogel with conductive property. Melamine with π-π conjugation ring was used as a core to synthesize a multi-armed crosslinker PEGDA700-Melamine (PEG-MEL), which could crosslink with thiol-modified hyaluronic acid (HA-SH) to form an injectable hydrogel rapidly. By incorporating graphene oxide (GO), the injectable PEG-MEL/HA-SH/GO hydrogel exhibited a soft (G' = 25 Pa) and anti-fatigue mechanical property and conductive property (G = 2.84 × 10-4S/cm). The hydrogel encapsulating adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) was injected into MI area of rats. The significant increase in α-Smooth Muscle Actin (α-SMA) and Connexin 43 (Cx43) expression confirmed that the gel efficiently promoted the transmission of mechanical and electrical signals. Meanwhile, a significant improvement of heart functions, such as distinct increase of ejection fraction (EF), smaller infarction size, less fibrosis area, and higher vessel density, was achieved.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Baoyu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China. Electronic address: wwgfz@tju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China. Electronic address: wgliu@tju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wenguang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D019245:Compressive Strength; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration / Q000379:methods*; D006244:Hardness; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry*; D007267:Injections; D008297:Male; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013318:Stroke Volume; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels
keywords: Conductive; Injectable hydrogel; Myocardial infarction; π-π conjugation