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Visible light crosslinkable human hair keratin hydrogels.
- Source :
-
Bioengineering & Translational Medicine . Jan2018, Vol. 3 Issue 1, p37-48. 12p. - Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Keratins extracted from human hair have emerged as a promising biomaterial for various biomedical applications, partly due to their wide availability, low cost, minimal immune response, and the potential to engineer autologous tissue constructs. However, the fabrication of keratin-based scaffolds typically relies on limited crosslinking mechanisms, such as via physical interactions or disulfide bond formation, which are time-consuming and result in relatively poor mechanical strength and stability. Here, we report the preparation of photocrosslinkable keratin-polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels via the thiol-norbornene "click" reaction, which can be formed within one minute upon irradiation of visible light. The resulting keratin-PEG hydrogels showed highly tunable mechanical properties of up to 45 kPa in compressive modulus, and long-term stability in buffer solutions and cell culture media. These keratin-based hydrogels were tested as cell culture substrates in both two-dimensional surface seeding and three-dimensional cell encapsulation, demonstrating excellent cytocompatibility to support the attachment, spreading, and proliferation of fibroblast cells. Moreover, the photocrosslinking mechanism makes keratin-based hydrogel suitable for various microfabrication techniques, such as micropatterning and wet spinning, to fabricate cell-laden tissue constructs with different architectures. We believe that the unique features of this photocrosslinkable human hair keratin hydrogel promise new opportunities for their future biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *CELL culture
*CULTURES (Biology)
*IMMUNE response
*KERATINIZATION
*EPIDERMIS
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 23806761
- Volume :
- 3
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Bioengineering & Translational Medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 127636090
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1002/btm2.10077