1. Combined Electrostatic and Covalent Polymer Networks for Cell Microencapsulation.
- Author
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Mahou, Redouan, Kolláriková, Gabriela, Gonelle‐Gispert, Carmen, Meier, Raphael, Schmitt, Frederic, Tran, Nhu Mai, Dufresne, Murielle, Altimari, Ilaria, Lacík, Igor, Bühler, Léo, Juillerat‐Jeanneret, Lucienne, Legallais, Cécile, and Wandrey, Christine
- Subjects
ELECTROSTATICS ,MICROENCAPSULATION ,POLYETHYLENE glycol ,CHEMICAL derivatives ,GELATION ,SODIUM alginate ,MICROSPHERES - Abstract
Two types of hydrogel microspheres have been developed. Fast ionotropic gelation of sodium alginate (Na-alg) in the presence of calcium ions was combined with slow covalent cross-linking of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) derivatives. For the first type, the fast obtainable Ca-alg hydrogel served as spherical matrix for the simultaneously occurring covalent cross-linking of multi-arm PEG derivative. A two-component interpenetrating network was formed in one step upon extruding the mixture of the two polymers into the gelation bath. For the second type, heterobifunctional PEG was grafted onto Na-alg prior to gelation. Upon extrusion of the polymer solution into the gelation bath, fast Ca-alg formation ensured the spherical shape and was accompanied by cross-linker-free covalent cross-linking of the PEG side chains. Thus, one-component hydrogel microspheres resulted. We present the physical properties of the hydrogel microspheres and demonstrate the feasibility of cell microencapsulation for both types of polymer networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
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